


Paradise Birds

by thestarsarefalling



Category: Supernatural, Supernatural AU
Genre: Anal Sex, F/M, Fashion AU, Gen, M/M, PTSD, Sexual Content, Traumatic Experience, designer!cas, designer!castiel, model!dean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-25
Updated: 2016-03-25
Packaged: 2018-05-28 23:19:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 38,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6349738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thestarsarefalling/pseuds/thestarsarefalling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel Novak is a successful fashion designer specializing in haute couture. When he decides to start a bespoke menswear line, it's suggested he hire a spokes-model in order to win the industry over with his eccentric designs. When Castiel chooses male model Dean Winchester to represent the brand, he gets a little more than Dean's good looks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to the amazing artist [ Vinita ](http://vinnie-cha.tumblr.com) who constantly put up with my pickiness and the insane time difference between us. She creates the most beautiful work, so I implore you to check it out. You can find the masterpost for the art: [ here.](http://vinnie-cha.tumblr.com/post/141660133030/destiel-reverse-bang-2016-my-art-master-post-for) Secondly, thank you to my wonderful Beta, [anmechokola](http://anmechokola.tumblr.com/) who edited this in two days - serious props to her. 
> 
> Finally, besides personal experience (I did an internship at a local atelier!), this was based on "Dior and I" with Raf Simons and the House of Dior. If you haven't watched it, it is a great documentary looking into the world of couture.

“Crap, crap, crap,” Castiel muttered to himself as he threw his pencil across the room.

He’d been sketching for the upcoming spring/summer menswear collection, but he had no inspiration. He had impossible deadlines, but it didn’t matter if he couldn’t draw anything. Castiel remembered the conversation he had with his brother – Gabriel told him he didn’t technically need to be the one to sketch the designs, that he could have hired someone to do it for him, but he countered he enjoyed the process of seeing the garment go from paper to the real thing. This time, maybe he should have listened to Gabe.

“Cas.” Anna peeked her head in the doorway of Castiel’s office. “It’s Naomi. Line 2.”

Anna gave him a pointed look before sitting back down at her desk. Being Castiel’s assistant meant taking calls like these, but luckily for her she only had to direct them to him.

“Shit,” Castiel grumbled, hesitantly picking up the phone. “Naomi, how are you? How’s the September issue coming?”

Balthazar, Naomi’s second-in-command at F Magazine and one of Castiel’s best friends in the business, was actually the one on the phone. “Busy. She wants a date, Castiel. She needs the gown.”

“She’ll get it. When’s the shoot?” Castiel juggled the phone against his ear as he reached for another pencil to begin sketching.

There was a lot of commotion on Balthazar’s end and it took a few moments for him to reply, “Three weeks.”

“YOU ARE KIDDING ME.” Castiel stood up abruptly, and then fell back down into his chair. “I can’t do that. It takes six weeks to make a couture gown. I have my womenswear line to deal with and I haven’t done anything for the men’s line. AND even if I finish the dress, she makes the final call and she might not even choose it for the shoot. Why did it change to three weeks? I was told five!”

“Apparently, the weather in London is going to be spectacular in 3 weeks, which I don’t understand since it’s an inside shoot. Cas, you’re America’s favourite designer. She’ll have to choose you.” He heard Balthazar take a sip from his cup. “Come on, you can get it done.”

“I know, but my team is going to hate me. Remind me why I decided to start menswear this year?”

“You are doing less pieces for each line,” Balthazar reminded him. “So you have that to look forward to.”

Castiel rubbed his face. “I guess I should go break the news.”

“Good luck,” Balthazar said in a sing-song voice before hanging up.

Castiel rubbed his face again and slammed the pencil back down on top of the blank sketchpad.

“Anna, get me Ellen,” Castiel hollered.

“On it,” Anna called out.

In exactly twelve minutes, Ellen arrived in his office. She was head of the atelier for the women’s, and now men’s, lines. Whatever Castiel sketched and researched went directly to her first, so obviously she was the first to hear any news.

“You have bad news,” Ellen spoke when she sat down in front of him. “Don’t tell me we’re changing the fabric order.”

“Naomi is giving me three weeks for the gown,” Castiel spoke softly and without looking at her – even though he was the boss, she still intimidated the hell out of him.

Ellen considered that for a moment. “Okay, I think we can work with that.”

“You’re joking. Three weeks? You can get it done in three weeks?” Castiel sat up and leaned forward, absolutely shocked with what she just said.

“The toile is almost done. Get a model tomorrow and we can do the first fitting, we’re just waiting on the fabric. Give me Kevin and Jo and we can get it done in a week, and then we do the final fitting. It’ll be close but it’s doable.”

With wide eyes, he immediately called out for Anna again. “Anna, expedite the fabric. We need it here in four days.”

There was no answer at first, but then Castiel heard the clicking of Anna’s heels on the floor. Soon, her full body was in view. “I’m sorry. Four days?”

“Make it work!” Castiel cringed – he hated that phrase, but it seemed to slip out when he least expected it.

“It might take a miracle,” Anna cautioned. “But I think I can do it.”

“You’re an angel.” In all honesty, Anna was a godsend to him. When he started out in the business, he thought he could handle it all himself, but when appointments started to get missed and his professional life began crumbling, he knew he needed help. Thankfully, the beautiful former model Anna Milton arrived to save him.

He returned his attention to Ellen and looked at her skeptically. “Are you sure?”

“Give me Kevin and Jo. They have the fastest hands in your house and you know it. They can work with Gabriel to get it done in time.”

Castiel considered it for a moment. Kevin and Jo were both given some of the more complicated on the womenswear line, also making sure client creations were made to perfection. The quality might suffer a bit, but this gown was going in F Magazine’s 75th anniversary special edition September issue. Naomi was going to see it in the flesh and if it wasn’t perfect, he’d watch in sadness and envy as rival designers took his place.

“Fine, do it.” He gave in. “Can we do the 10th for final fittings? I’m thinking Naomi will be here the next day to check it out.”

“The 10th will work.”

“Ellen, you’re a goddess.” Castiel swivelled around and stood up to face the window. He stared at the view of office buildings surrounding him.

“I know.” Ellen stood up. “We’ll talk soon. Hope your first men’s line is coming together.”

He groaned, but was interrupted when Anna peeked her head into his office again. “Cas? You have a meeting in ten minutes.”

“Cancel it. I need to sketch.” Castiel grabbed his pencil. “Men’s line, remember?”

“Can’t. It’s with marketing.” She gave him a sympathetic look, waiting by the door so that they could go together.

He closed his eyes and sighed, replacing the pencil with a pen. “Fine.”

Castiel ended up sketching during the entire meeting. It took just one decoration in the corner of the office to inspire him. The team could see his creative juices flowing and luckily they only needed his approval for the ideas they had, so they didn’t need to bother him too much.

Everyone in the fashion world expected him to do something shocking for his first couture menswear line. They won’t know that what inspired him was a peacock feather. After the meeting that wasn’t a meeting, Castiel holed himself up in his office and began a frantic night of researching birds, colours, and other collections to inspire him.

When Anna creeped into his office the next morning with coffee and a muffin, she saw the first few sketches posted on the walls with various pictures surrounding them, the words “Paradise Birds” right in the center and a little peacock feather tacked to the wall.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Dean was late. He was also running as fast as he could with his portfolio and a cup of coffee in his hands. Realizing he could go a lot faster without it, caffeine be damned even if it might keep him awake for the four go-sees he had today, he trashed the cup and clutched his portfolio tighter.

He made the go-see with seconds to spare, checking in last, but still “on time.” He couldn’t remember what designer he was sent to – his modelling agency dealt with that – and he didn’t really care what the clothes looked like either. It was, simply put, a job. Dean was lucky he had years of experience, hand picked by Meg Masters herself, of Masters Models, when he was still in high school. Modelling helped put his brother through school, even if he himself never got the opportunity.

Looking around the waiting room, though, Dean realized there were some top male and female model contenders he was going against. He quickly took out his phone from his leather jacket.

Dean (9:29 am): _What the hell Masters, I see Uriel, Abbie, Victor, Ruby, and a whole bunch of other top models that usually do Armani or Valentino or Chanel. What the hell did you book me for?_

Meg (9:32 am): _Oh, calm your tits, Dean. I just so happen to have gone to Parsons with the designer. He and I go way back ;)_

Great, that little emoticon must have meant Meg slept with the guy – not like that was a reliable hint. Dean looked around again for any indication of the designer. There was nothing. All he could gather was that if they were hiring both men and women, then it would be a combined line, or at least two separate ones. Dean went through his list of designers that typically did both.

Dean (9:35 am): _What kind of job? Runway? Editorial?_

Meg (9:36 am): _I guess you’ll just have to wait and see. Good luck, handsome._

Dean sighed and put his phone away. One by one, each model went in and came out with a neutral expression. If at least one of them said it was good or bad, then Dean could expect something, but they were all masters of the no-expression expression.

“Dean Winchester?” The man that had been calling out each model stuck his head in the waiting room.

Dean was the last one that they were seeing, and by now he was pretty certain they had made up their mind. If they had the likes of some of the most popular male models in the room, surely they would not give him the time of day. Whatever. He would do the job and try and make a good impression.

Walking into the space, Dean eyed the obvious path for a runway made hastily for the casting.

“ _Okay, so runway. That’s easy,”_ He thought to himself, but then one quick glance to his left and he saw a backdrop and camera propped up on a tripod. “ _And a photoshoot? What?”_

He eventually made his way to the panel sitting at a table and his jaw nearly dropped when he saw who was sitting there. Besides Anna and Balthazar – names you had to know in the fashion industry – there sat right in the centre with stupidly blue eyes and tousled hair that had to be done on purpose was the designer, Castiel Novak.

“ _Holy fuck,”_ He thought to himself when his eyes settled on the man. “ _What the hell did I get myself into? What the hell did_ Meg _get me into?”_

He reminded himself to yell at Meg for not letting him prepare for this, for surely Dean was giving Castiel, his assistant, and the rest of his team a deer-in-the-headlights look. Castiel hadn’t looked up yet, thankfully, so Dean plastered on a confident look while his mind went over the fact that Castiel was a BFA and two-time CFDA award winner. Those were tough to win, and somehow he found himself in the presence of the man who managed both. He began to understand the eclectic room of models that were waiting with him outside. Castiel, though normal looking in his regular suit and tie, designed some of the most avant-garde things Dean had ever seen. In short, he was a pretty big deal and if he was casting men and women, it meant he was serious about the supposed menswear line Dean had been hearing so much about over the last couple of weeks.

“Dean Winchester?” Anna looked up and smiled politely. “May we see your portfolio?”

The eponymous designer for CSTL NVK still hadn’t looked up, even when Dean approached the table to hand over his book. Castiel was probably looking at his phone if Dean could guess by the way both hands were under the table. Anna and Balthazar looked through it, some eyebrows raised and nodding here and there.

“Well, hello, cowboy.” Balthazar laughed, looking at Dean and holding up the portfolio to show Dean the half naked picture of himself wearing a cowboy hat. “Let me guess … early modelling days?”

Dean laughed nervously, but cursed himself for leaving that in there. Meg said it was a good idea as it showed how much stronger he had developed as a model, but for the most part it just meant designers, casting agents, and everyone alike gave him the same reaction that Balthazar just gave.

“Your latest work?” Anna asked absentmindedly as she continued flipping through, now looking at the newer stuff.

“Uh.” Dean scratched his head. “Hugo Boss for his fall/winter campaign group shoot. A couple runway gigs last season – Ralph Lauren, Tom Ford.”

“Yeah, you look like a Hugo type,” Balthazar said somewhat snootily.

Anna gave Balthazar a pointed look, but her composure relaxed when her attention returned to Dean. “And how long have you been with Masters Models?”

Castiel decided then to look up at him and Dean almost had to brace himself from the intense gaze he was getting from the designer. “You’re at Masters Models?”

Dean responded slowly, “Yes.”

“How is Meg?” Castiel asked, putting the apparent sketchbook and pencil he had on his lap onto the table.

“Great. A bit of a hard-ass, but she saw something in me, so I gotta thank her for that.” Dean shrugged.

“That’s good.” Castiel picked up the pencil again, and Dean could tell that he already lost his interest with the lack of an elaborate answer. “Tell her I said hi, and that we should get coffee sometime.”

“Sure.” Dean sounded slightly confused, but maintained his stance as Castiel resumed sketching.

Anna gave Castiel a rude look, but he didn’t notice. Dean supposed that small victories in a botched casting call were good enough for him – he clearly did not make any sort of impression on the designer and, quite honestly, Castiel was being kind of a dick anyway.

“Right.” Anna tried to perk herself up. “Can we get you to walk for us?”

He nodded and walked to the beginning of their makeshift runway. At the cue, he walked with a serious face.

“Once more?” Anna instructed.

Dean did the same, only this time he took of his jacket mid way and hung it over his shoulders, trying to portray some semblance of coolness. Castiel still wasn’t having it, glancing up a few times but giving no indication of whether or not it was good.

Anna looked up from writing some notes down. “Great. Can we get some shots of you, please? We’ll give you some time to get ready”

“Course.” Dean nodded, walking over to their little photo shoot area without waiting for them and looked at the mirror in order to fix himself up a bit.

The others got up from their seats and slowly made their way there. Anna and Balthazar quietly bickered to themselves, but Castiel cut in. Though they tried to keep their conversation to themselves Dean could easily overhear.

“Balthazar’s right, you know,” Castiel spoke, shutting them both up and surprising them at the same time. “He does look like a Hugo Boss type.”

“See, hah!” Balthazar pointed at Anna.

“What do you mean?” Anna slapped Balthazar’s hand away. “He’s gorgeous.”

“Sure, but everyone we saw was gorgeous. He’s plain. He won’t fit the line.” Castiel looked over at Dean, who just combed his fingers through his hair. “He’s boring and he hasn’t smiled once. Way too serious for my line.”

“He did at the beginning. You were just too busy drawing to see,” Anna hissed.

Anna and Balthazar looked over at Dean, who went over to the backdrop. Balthazar took the camera from the table to his side and connected the cable to it. Dean stood with his back straight and facing Balthazar.

“Are you going to move or something, soldier?” Balthazar said teasingly.

“Oh, not a headshot?” Dean was perplexed.

“Nope, please pose.” Balthazar smiled wickedly. “We’ll do some test shots quickly.”

Dean shrugged – it was kind of unconventional, but whatever. “Sure.”

He posed as Anna and Castiel watched. He sneakily glanced over to see their expressions. Anna looked enraptured but Castiel looked bored. Dean didn’t know whether or not to be insulted or relieved in knowing the pressure was off, after all he easily overheard Castiel label him as “plain” and “boring”. The comments didn’t bother him – it was part of the industry, and when a model doesn’t fit what the designer wants, then that was that – but it was the fact that he didn’t give him the time of day or even properly acknowledge him that was the issue. When Castiel turned away, Dean resolutely decided that the casting was over and any pretence of him being picked was thrown out the window.

“Okay. Let’s do some headshots,” Balthazar announced.

Dean took a deep breath and relaxed his pose. He stood still as Balthazar took a few shots. Feeling like he had nothing to lose he made a funny face at the camera and Balthazar and Anna laughed, catching Castiel’s attention, though he was certain the designer didn’t see what happened. He turned slightly red at the attention and bowed his head, though he kept his smile.

“Alright, thank you so much, Dean.” Balthazar put the camera away. “I believe we are done?”

Balthazar looked at Anna, who nodded. “Thank you for coming.”

Dean smiled again. “Thank you.”

After Dean grabbed his portfolio and left the space, Balthazar went to his computer, uploaded the pictures, and began printing each headshot he’d taken that day. There was a lot to go through, but for the upcoming men’s line Castiel had a lot of pressure to make sure he chose the right models. There were 72 models to look through, with only 20 for each line. He’d usually go for at least 40, but with the immense pressure on his shoulders, Castiel opted for two condensed lines.

“Ladies first?” Batlhazar pushed his seat away and stood above the table, placing each female model’s headshot down.

The three of them went through each model’s headshot and their notes. It was easy to choose the ones they wanted – it helped knowing certain model’s loyalties to brands, and for Castiel, those included the likes of Ruby, Abby, Jessica, and Bela.

When the twenty were chosen, Anna gathered the extra photos and placed them in her folder marked “just-in-case.” Then Balthazar began placing each of the male model’s photos down.

“Okay, Cas.” Balthazar sighed, sitting down. “Where do you want to start?”

“Well, obviously, we need to have Uriel, Benny, Victor, and the brothers Michael and Lucifer.” Castiel’s eyes followed the trail of photos until he stopped at Dean’s.

  

His headshot wasn’t the typical serious face that models usually do. His eyes were comically wide, showing off the long lashes and green gems that were his eyes, and with a very wide and open smile that shone a bright white. A small, soft smile crept on Castiel’s face, and he couldn’t help but feel a sense of joy, a tingling butterflies in his stomach type of feeling, looking at Dean. Maybe he was wrong about the man. He didn’t realize he was holding the picture until Balthazar cleared his throat.

“Right, erm.” Castiel put the photo down but tapped at it with his finger. “Him, too.”

Anna’s eyebrow raised and a devilish smile she must have learned from Gabriel appeared on her face. “Really? Dean Winchester? What happened to ‘too plain’ and ‘way too serious for my line’?”

Castiel glared at her. “Shut up.”

They went through choosing the other sixteen models without incident, but he could tell that both Balthazar and Anna wanted to tease him about choosing Dean. Even later at the fitting for The Gown, he still wasn’t sure what it was about Dean’s silly face that made him forgo his first impressions of the man to put him in the line. Maybe it was the eyes. Or the smile. Or he was under so much stress that insanity made him choose.

“The strap is fine!” Kevin was bickering with Jo about the width of the off-the-shoulder strap.

“Naomi’s going to comment on it.” Jo crossed her arms. “I bet you $100.”

“Kids, you’re annoying me.” Gabriel balanced a few pins in his mouth. “I will sew your mouths shut.”

The fit model stood there awkwardly as the three kept fitting the dress on her. Ellen looked on offering comments here and there. Castiel watched the three with a critical eye but had his attention occasionally diverted by his phone. He was waiting patiently on updates from Anna who supposedly knew the location of the _actual_ model that was supposed to be wearing The Gown for both the fitting session and the shoot.

Ellen neared him. “Anything?”

“Nope.” He exasperatedly placed his phone on the table and looked at the dress. He supposed he could go with the fit model, but she wasn’t experienced enough to do editorial shoots, much less do a shoot for F Magazine’s 75th anniversary issue.

“I have an idea.” She sat down beside him. “Though I don’t know if she’ll like it.”

“Who? The fit model?” He turned his attention towards Ellen.

“No. Anna.” She raised a brow, trying to get him to understand what she was getting at.

It took a moment, but he understood and groaned. “She’s going to hate me. There’s a reason why she got out of modelling. Let’s just wait and see where Tessa is. If she’s not here in ten minutes, then I’ll ask Anna.”

“Time’s a-wasting.” Ellen shook her head and stood up, nearing Kevin, Jo, and Gabriel.

Castiel got up from his seat and left the studio for a moment. He stood outside in the hallway and watched the cars pass by. The Gown was a team effort that somehow was emerging within a tight deadline, even amongst all the research and countless meetings he had to attend to once he finalized his sketches for the menswear collection. It was truly the baby of Ellen, Kevin, Jo, and Gabriel. All in all, he was exhausted and stressed, and adding in the MIA Tessa did not help calm his nerves. A notification beeped on his phone and he desperately hoped it was Tessa.

Anna (2:46 pm): _Legal has finished the contracts for the models and need your approval._

Castiel (2:47 pm): _Sign for me._

Anna (2:48 pm): _Will do. Nothing on Tess, btw. I think I’ll try her boyfriend._

Castiel sighed and bit his lip – Tessa’s disappearance was forcing his hand and he _really_ didn’t want to ask Anna to step in. He knew that asking her to model again, even after what happened to her at her last show, was not something he’d ever want of her, but he had run out of ideas.

Anna (2:51 pm): _Bad news – she’s in the hospital. Broke her ankle._

“Christ,” He hissed.

He leaned his back against the windowpane but turned his head, getting a perfect view into the studio. Gabriel was poking Jo with his pins again, and Kevin and Ellen were playing around with the hem of the dress. Castiel looked at his phone for a long time before he dialled Anna’s number.

“Why are you calling me?” was how she decided to greet him.

“I need to ask you a favour,” he began slowly.

Thinking it was better to just say it than to let it drag on, he spoke quickly, “canyoupleasestepinforTessaandmodeltheGown.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Model the Gown.” He sighed. “Please.”

There was long window of silence between the two of them before she answered, “No. You can find someone else.”

“You know I can’t. Not in this short span of time.” Castiel rubbed his forehead. “There’s no runway. It’s just a shoot. I am begging you. I’ll even give you a raise.”

Anna sighed loudly and for a long time before answering, “Fine, Castiel. But not for the raise, even though that would be nice, but because I know that this is a huge deal for you and being featured in F’s 75th is probably one of the best things for your brand.”

He laughed shakily. “Thank you, Anna. Honestly, I cannot thank you enough.”

“Do you need me down there now?” She asked.

“Yes.” He walked back into the studio. “And hurry. We’ve less than 24 hours before Naomi gets here.”

“Okay, I’ll sign off on the contracts and be there in ten. See you soon.” She hung up.

Castiel graciously told the fit model that they wouldn’t need her services anymore and the team carefully helped her out of the Gown without disturbing too much of the pinning they’d done. When Anna arrived, Ellen gave her a sympathetic pat on the back before helping her get into the Gown. Anna took some deep breaths, but managed to walk with it on – they needed to make sure it had the right movement.

“You’re doing great.” Castiel tried to offer some encouragement. “You can stop there. No more walking.”

Anna smiled weakly. Gabriel, Kevin, and Jo began pinning again, looking at what could be taken in, and what could be accentuated more. They tried not to be too liberal with their tailoring given the time they had to fix it. Castiel carefully watched Anna’s face. She stared at herself in the mirror with no emotion on her face. He was wondering if she was thinking of her last show. He certainly was.

Four years ago Anna was at the top of her game. No one could resist her long mane of red hair matched with that porcelain skin. Castiel was there the last time she did a proper fashion show. The designer wanted to do something very open concept and edgy, and opted for a square space over one singular runway. The models would enter from one side, walk the square runway, and then sit down or pose in the middle of the space. Anna was the fourth model to walk, and everyone was captivated by the sharp contrast of her red hair against the all white outfit. When she got about halfway into her walk, there was a loud creaking sound, and suddenly the lighting rig fell, crushing her and another model walking being her.

Panic ensued. Both of them sustained the same injuries – broken legs, a concussion, and blood loss, but Anna dealt with the brunt of PTSD. After months of rehab, she was able to walk again with just the slightest of limps, but she couldn’t put herself up to walking in a fashion show again. When Castiel heard she was looking for a job within the fashion industry – but no modelling, period – he hired her on as his assistant.

Flash-forward to the current fitting, and she was doing amazingly.

“What do you think, bro?” Gabriel nudged him out of his daydream.

Castiel looked at the Gown on Anna and walked around. “Perfect. Let’s just hope Naomi thinks so too.”


	3. Chapter 3

No one ever told Castiel that the fashion industry was a lonely business when it all came to a close at the end of the day. All the other fashion designers and models put on pretty smiles during the day – him, too – but at the end of the day, he came home to a nice, big, empty apartment with no one to share it with. It’s why he sometimes liked to make a trip down to his nearest coffee shop where it was constantly filled with bustling activity and people – this was his way of finding peace and quiet, for the real peace and quiet was too lonesome. 

Castiel never had to worry about the paparazzi. Fashion designers like him didn’t make the tabloids. If his name was Karl Lagerfeld or Donatella Versace, then that would be a different story, but otherwise he went by relatively unnoticed in the public eye. It’s why he could sit for hours in such a public place without being approached. Though the same couldn’t be said for those whom he knew in the fashion industry. Without him even realizing it, Hannah sat down at his table with two coffees and a croissant. 

“You could hire someone to draw for you, you know?” She said, by way of greeting. “This is for you. I bet you haven’t eaten all day.”

“Hello, Hannah.” Castiel looked up at her and then at the croissant that was pushed towards him. “Thanks. How’s J.Crew?” 

She was the acting marketing director of the brand, though in all honesty she wanted to spread her wings elsewhere. She looked at him with curiosity in her eyes. 

“Same old, same old.” Hannah shrugged. “Ads are preppy, happy, and colourful as usual. How’s the brand?”

He nodded, taking a bit of the pastry. “Casted models today.”

She leaned in with interest. “Anyone I know?”

“Probably.” He shrugged. “Can’t say they’ll accept the contract though, so we’ll see.”

At that moment, Dean walked in. Neither of the men noticed each other, since Castiel’s attention was focused on Hannah and Dean was chatting on his phone. 

"So, how did they go?" Meg asked in her sultry voice.

“Not bad.” Dean lined up at the counter and looked at the chalkboard menu above the barista’s head. “I probably nailed the last one.”

“And Castiel’s?” Her voice went higher mentioning his name.

He groaned. "He looked at me twice. Called me plain and boring. The rest of the time he spent drawing. Oh, he said you should grab coffee with him."

"Did he now?" Her voice perked up, clearly more interested in the idea of meeting up rather than Dean's botched casting call with her once classmate. 

"I don't know what you see in him, or saw,” he took out his wallet. “Give me a second.”

He relayed his order to the barista, giving her his winning smile and a flirtatious wink, which in turn led her to write her number on his cup. 

"It's the blue eyes. They get to you if you look long enough," Meg responded. "Heaven knows I did."

"Okay, I probably don't want to hear more." Dean changed the subject. "Any other jobs I should be aware of or is that it?"

"Nope, that’s it." Her voice returned to a professional tone. "You have a fitting scheduled at 9:30 tomorrow. Don't forget. You have the address?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"Oh, I do have one thing, actually. Don't know if you'll be interested," she added in. "A model dropped out and they need someone for a shoot tomorrow. They’ll double your rate and I heard the format is super simple."

“Who’s the photographer?” 

“Zachariah.”

“Gross.” He sniffed. “But tolerable, I guess. Brand?"

Meg hesitated. "Crowley's."

Dean scoffed loudly, attracting the notice of those he was waiting with at the other side of the counter. "Hell, no. There's probably a reason why that model dropped and it's definitely because of Crowley."

"Come on, you know it's good money and great publicity." She tried to entice him.

"Did it once, and never again. Not only is he the king of asshole designers, but also all his clothes are the same. How he’s still in business I have no idea." He shook his head. "Give the job to someone else."

"Ugh, fine," Meg conceded. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

Dean put his phone in his pocket just as his coffee and sandwich was set down for him to grab. He was tempted to take the food back to his apartment and eat it there, but his rumbling stomach from not eating all day told him otherwise. He immediately found an empty spot at the couches just in the corner of the café. Placing the sandwich on the table, he began to slowly unwrap it. The aromas mixed with his coffee made his stomach embarrassingly grumble, but he didn’t care. 

“Cas, come on. We’re debuting a new line. Jenna is super excited about it and I know she’d love to meet you.” Hannah was trying her darndest to get Castiel to attend a showing of J.Crew’s new capsule collection at the behest of the brand’s creative director and president. “Bring someone! It’ll be fun.”

He glared at her. “Who am I going to bring, exactly? My imaginary boyfriend?”

It was her turn to glare, “I cannot believe you’re still single. You’re good looking and successful.” 

“Yeah,” he scoffed. “I’m average in a sea of beautiful models and successful in an industry that never sleeps and constantly changes, keeping me forever busy. I’m never home, and when I am, it’s to watch the next guy pack their stuff and leave.”

“They’re just the wrong men.” She tried to reassure him. “And besides, I’m asking you to bring someone – not your future husband.”

“Like who? The people I’d ask already spend their time working for me. Balthazar will probably already be there and I’m definitely not bringing family.” Castiel’s friends outside the industry were far and few, and most of them didn’t understand his job or his lifestyle. It was the way it was and it didn’t bother him, except for when he had to have conversations like these.

Hannah poked her head up from their little bubble and looked around the café. “He’s cute.”

She nudged her head and Castiel smoothly turned around to look. His gaze settled on the man about to take a giant bite out of his sandwich. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said a little too loudly, prompting Dean to look straight at him with his mouth still wide open.

Castiel whipped his body back around at Hannah and swore softly under his breath. Of all the people he could have seen, much less be in the same café with, it had to be the one man who changed something in his mind during the casting when he initially labelled the model as “plain.” He still didn’t know what it was about Dean that made him change his mind, but he didn’t want to find out quite yet. 

“You know him?” Hannah leaned and whispered. 

“Sort of. He’s a model. Dean. I just hired him. Well.” Castiel closed his eyes and tried to put together a coherent sentence. “He’s going to model in my first menswear collection. He hasn’t gotten the contract yet.”

“So what’s the big deal? You look like you just saw a ghost.” Hannah shook her head, stealing glances at the man sitting on the couch. 

“I don’t know.” He was legitimately unsure. “And if you do, let me know. I thought he was too average looking, and then I took a look at his headshot where he made this dumb face and I immediately wanted him in my line. What’s he doing?”

Dean had geared up to take a big bite of his sandwich, opening his mouth wider to fit it in until out of the corner of his eye he saw someone turn around. He looked up and saw Castiel, still in his suit but with his trench coat draped over his chair, staring at him while he had his sandwich in the air with his mouth ready to chomp down on it. To say it was awkward would be an understatement. He didn’t even know a designer as successful as him would even be in a café like this, but there he was turning back around and hunching over as if he was embarrassed for simply noticing Dean. The movement didn’t help his ego, especially after his modelling audition with him, and it just left a sour taste in his mouth. He slowly placed the uneaten sandwich back down and wrapped it back up. He’d eat it later. 

“Go talk to him.” Hannah nudged. 

“I can’t. I’m technically not allowed to speak to models after a casting call,” Castiel spoke hushed. 

“Says who?” She looked annoyed at him.

“My legal department.”

Her eyes changed and he could see her following Dean’s movements. “He’s coming this way.”

“Christ.” He swallowed a nervous lump he didn’t realize was stuck in his throat. 

She placed her hand on top of his. “Just say hi.”

Rather, Dean decided to walk past them. He didn’t stop to say hi – after all, it looked like Castiel was having an intimate conversation with whoever was holding his hand. A girlfriend? Lover? Wife? Who knew. Castiel watched as Dean left the café, coffee and sandwich in hand. He breathed a sigh of relief. 

“God, what he must think about me.” He placed his head in his hands. “I basically ignored him during the casting and now this. He’s probably not going to sign the contract.”

Hannah watched him for a moment, trying to understand this nervous energy. “What is it about Dean that is making you like this? You’re never like this.”

“Again, if you know, please tell me.” He groaned. “I gotta go. Early day tomorrow. Naomi’s coming in to check over the Gown.”

“Eugh.” She visibly recoiled. “Good luck.”

“Thanks.” He stood up, taking the coffee with him.

“I’m putting you and a plus one as attending, Cas!” Hannah called out after him. “I’ll email Anna with the details.”

Castiel walked out of that café to a cool breeze and a night sky filled with glittering stars. It was nights like this that he wished he could spend it with someone to hold his hand and just talk while the endless traffic zoomed past them. Deep down he wanted someone to lessen the noise of the business of his days, to ground him and to give him something to look forward to every time he returned to his large and empty place. It was hard, though, especially with the hours he worked. Everything he said to Hannah was true, and the last guy that left him told him outright that he worked too much. He pulled on his trench coat and took a slow stroll back to his apartment. He held his sketchbook close to his body. He at least congratulated himself for getting some sketches done, though it would be a while before he realizes that the man he drew looked a little too much like Dean. 

Dean, on the other hand, walked the opposite direction, drank the rest of his coffee, caught a train, and walked another block before getting to his apartment. He was thoroughly hungry again and in no mood to think about the day’s events. He scarfed down his sandwich almost as quickly as he opened it and washed it down with some beer. He thought about exercising to keep up his physique, but decided that he’d do it tomorrow. He fell asleep with thoughts about how much of an ass Castiel was. 

Castiel tossed and turned with worrying thoughts about the Gown, Dean, and his brand’s future. 


	4. Chapter 4

Castiel was racing down the hallway to his studio with his phone and sketchbook clenched tightly in his hands. Following him was Anna. He received a notification from Balthazar saying that the designer they were supposed to see at 9 am couldn’t deliver the the dress – something about a spill or a rip. Whatever it was didn’t really matter, and the only thing that did was that Naomi was coming in earlier than expected, which was why Castiel and Anna were running down the hallway, bursting into the studio.

“She’s coming here in an hour.” His eyes darted back and forth between Kevin, Jo, and Gabriel. “Please tell me it’s done.”

Ellen somehow found her way by his side and patted his back. “It was done last night. Stop worrying, Castiel.”

He took in a deep and calming breath. “Okay. Let’s get Anna in it and hope for the best.”

Thus began the process of minor panic attacks, fitting, a little makeup and hair styling, even more last minute tailoring, and freaking out again. Castiel stood close to Anna, examining every little pleat and every little invisible stitch. The next time he checked the clock was five minutes before Naomi would arrive, but everyone in the fashion industry knew that she always came early. 

He heard her entourage first – the sound of heels clicking against the freshly polished floor was just one indicator. The next was the silence – if she didn’t speak first, no one did. Then she appeared in the studio, stoic and observant as ever in one of her most polished Armani suits. 

“Castiel.” Naomi nodded in acknowledgement and then took a seat in front of Cas’ makeshift runway – the rest of her entourage, Balthazar included, sat down after. 

Anna was hidden behind a screen in order to preserve some sort of mystery. When everyone was settled, Castiel gave the cue to Ellen who signalled Anna to come out. She took deep breaths before walking out, but her fears subsided when she saw Castiel’s supportive gaze. Strutting to the centre, everyone’s eyes were on her as she wore that gown. It moved with her body, the silk organza giving enough weight but sheerness to show off Anna’s long legs. When she turned, everyone could see the metallic fabric folded underneath the pleating – so thin that anyone would miss it, but the lights in the studio shone bright, making the guests wonder if mirrors were hidden within the dress. When Anna stood still, Naomi stood up and examined the dress in more detail. Typically, Naomi would just look and give no expressions whatsoever, but she surprised Castiel by not only investigating the pleating, but nodding when she was satisfied.

“Where did this fabric come from?” She asked him. 

He cleared his throat. “I had it specially made from a lab in Sweden.”

“They’re like mirrors,” She pointed out, taking another look. “But also not quite. How are they sewn in?” 

“They’re not,” he nervously explained. “They are woven material.”

“Impossible.” She gave him an incredulous look. 

He shook his head and avoided looking at her directly. “It is so tightly woven that they appear to look like metal, or like a mirror, I suppose. The metallic finish of the threads made the mirror effect possible.”

“It’s subtle.” She looked at her group and they all stood up. “Thank you, Castiel.”

Without another word, Naomi left the studio. Balthazar was at the back of the group but turned around to give him an expressive two thumbs up, telling Cas to expect to see the Gown in the magazine. Balthazar was great at judging Naomi’s thoughts even when no one else can. When they were all sure that everyone from the magazine was gone, Castiel let out a shaky but relieved breath. Gabriel whooped and Ellen patted Castiel on the back. 

“Congrats, Cas,” Anna made her way to him. “I’ve never seen her so … vocal. She actually said thank you.”

“Neither have I. God, I think I have to sit down.” Castiel wobbly made his way to the chair as Anna went back behind the screen to take the Gown off. 

“You’re gonna be in the magazine!” Gabriel was excited for his brother. 

“Well, we don’t know for certain just yet.” Castiel tried not to keep his hopes up – he knew Naomi had other designers to see, but it looked to be a certain thing.

Anna returned from the screen with her hair back down and her phone in her hands. “Just got word that the contracts have been sent out. Marketing wants you to choose a male model to headline your line. What do you think?”

He looked at her, confused. “No one does that. Why do they want me to do that?”

She shook her head and shrugged. “To promote your line, I guess.”

“Do they not understand that models jump from brand to brand? If I wanted someone to be the face of the line, I’d choose a celebrity,” He explained. 

“Well, you’d have to explain that to them. You have time to decide anyways.” He could see her scrolling on her phone. “Fabric samples are here. Want to take a look? You have two days with them.”

Castiel picked up his phone and sketchbook. “Let’s do it.”

Dean, at the fitting for a lesser-known designer, heard his phone ring. Usually, he wouldn’t have his phone so audible but it was just one of those days where he forgot to put it to silent. Luckily the designer was pretty relaxed and let him answer it. He walked over to the table where his phone was, all dressed in linen garments, and picked it up. It was Meg calling. 

“What’s up? I’m at the fitting right now,” he said by way of greeting. 

“You said that you botched Castiel’s casting yesterday?” She asked. 

He tried not to recall yesterday’s events. “Uh, yeah? Why? Did he come to gloat about it with you over coffee?”

She let out a laugh. “On the contrary, Dean. He picked you to be one of his models. I’m looking at the contract right now as a matter of fact.”

“What?” He spit out, his mind boggled as to how he was even considered.

The designer and the seamstress looked at him and he mouthed an apology at them. “I, uh, gotta go. I’ll talk to you after the fitting.”

“Yeah, you better come back here and sign this damn thing. Also, you can’t tell anyone you’ve been cast – there’s a NDA attached,” Meg warned. 

“Got it, boss.”

He hung up the phone and returned to the seamstress’ side to resume the fitting. In a strange turn of events, he did not expect to hear good news, much less being selected as Castiel’s first ever set of menswear models. He honestly didn’t even understand how that happened. Though his brain told him to be seriously confused he was also surprisingly excited – Castiel must have seen something in him. That, or Anna and Balthazar did. His thoughts then wandered to running into the designer at the café. Castiel was elusive and avoided talking to him. Perhaps, then, it was either Anna or Balthazar vouching for him. Either way, he had a job so he should have just been happy with that. It didn’t help him feel better, but it was something he could hold onto.

Dean eventually made his way back to the modelling agency, where Meg was situated in her glass office. He knocked on the door lightly. She waved her hand signalling for him to come in – she hadn’t even looked up yet. When she did, her eyes narrowed. 

“You didn’t tell anyone, right?” She asked suspiciously. 

He put his hands up defensively. “Scout’s honour.”

“You weren’t even in … never mind. Here.” She opened her drawer and pulled out his contract, handing it to him. “Read it and sign it.”

He took a quick glance at it and it all looked all right to him, though Sam would have insisted he read the entire thing. It had all the necessary legal requirements, the usual things that all designers put in, and a few perks. Otherwise, Dean didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. He signed it on the dotted line and gave it back to Meg. 

“So that’s it?” He asked. 

“You’ll receive a confirmation email, but otherwise I don’t think we’ll hear from him until closer to the show,” she proposed. “His marketing team might try and do something fancy before it, but I don’t quite know.”

“What do you mean by ‘something fancy?’”

“Depending on who he uses as fit model, or if they need to do promotional things, they might ask you to go in,” she clarified. 

“Doubt it.” He shrugged, standing up. “Castiel didn’t seem to like me very much. I think it was Anna or Balthazar who probably put me in the line up. Either that, or the other models sucked ass during their casting and I was just their last choice.”

“People would kill to have your looks, Dean.” she sighed, annoyed with the man.

“Maybe, but he wasn’t looking for my type of looks.”

“He’s a good person.” Meg looked down and took a pause before responding, a soft smile forming at the corner of her lips. “And that’s not something you could say of every designer. Now do you want me to send this off, or not?”

Dean thought about it for a moment, before deciding that the job would get him good exposure no matter how much the designer liked him or not. “Do it.”


	5. Chapter 5

 “No, this is dumb. No offense.” Castiel was on the phone with the director of marketing and PR, Rafael, one week after contracts were sent out. “But no other designer does this. I’ve never heard of them doing this.”

“Then you’ll be the first. Castiel, pre-promoting the line will give you big coverage here and overseas. By promoting it as if it’s a ready-to-wear line, it’ll boost confidence in couture menswear,” Rafael explained.

“But why do we have to do interviews? Can’t you just choose one of them?” He was literally on the cusp of whining.

“Because they’re going to spending time around you, going to events and whatnot,” Rafael gently explained. “And if you can’t mesh with them, it’s going to be a big problem.”

“Raf, I’m telling you.” he shook his head. “It’s not gonna work. People want to look at celebrities, not models. And besides, the models I’ve hired aren’t household names.”

“Then we’ll make them.”

“A male model as a household name? Name one male model out there.” Castiel glared. “This is getting ridiculous.”

Rafael paused. “What’s going on, Cas? You’re getting worked up over something that shouldn’t be a big deal. You’re an innovator, someone that paves the way, and yet you’re pushing back on every idea I’ve tried to run by you.”

Castiel sighed – Raf was right. “I don’t know. I guess it’s just this is my first menswear line. I … want to play it safe.”

“Nobody becomes the best at what they do by playing it safe. You never did. Look at how you started your couture womenswear. You pushed the boundaries.”

“Flattery isn’t going to get you anywhere,” Castiel responded flatly.

Raf sighed audibly over the phone, “How about this. We’ll do the interviews like I suggested and if we find a model that we like, someone who you think will represent your brand, we’ll use him to promote the line. If not, then we can forget it ever happened and I’ll never bother you about it again.”

“Really, you’ll never bother me again?” Castiel asked incredulously.

“Until next season,” Raf added.

“There it is.” He sat back in his chair and thought for a moment. “Fine. I’ll do it. But under the condition that I get final say as to the model we choose, should I find someone I like.”

“Deal.” He could hear the sigh of relief coming from Rafael. “Twenty emails will be sent by the end of today. When would you like to schedule interviews?”

He looked at his calendar on his computer. Besides the seemingly endless fitting appointments, meetings, and other errands, it almost looked like he wouldn’t have any time. He’d have to clear out an entire day just to do this.

“Monday next week. We’ll do them all that day. I’m flying out tomorrow for the F magazine shoot.” He shook his head, already composing emails to send out to various people.

“Works for me. I’ll prepare the interview questions and send them off to you for approval. See you then.” Raf hung up the phone.

Castiel scheduled the interviews into his calendar, messaging Anna of the rather unexpected and abrupt change. Though he wasn’t looking forward to the idea at all, he knew that Rafael was right and the exposure and publicity was sorely needed for something so new to him. Deep down, failure was one thing that terrified him and he couldn’t let this new line fall to its doom after just one season. Taking risks – like selecting a line spokesperson – scared him to bits. Luckily, Rafael managed to compromise and the terms were agreeable. If Castiel couldn’t find the right guy, then that was okay and they could continue to do what he had planned.

He stood up from his desk and walked around his office, looking at the pictures and sketches posted on his wall. There was seemingly a billion things to do – sourcing trims, finding the perfect fabric, and of course, the actual fittings that would be done for both lines. Now to add interviews to his list stressed him out. First things first – he had to fly to London.

The Gown was packed and ready to go with Anna and Castiel protecting it with their lives. Usually, they’d express ship it, but he did not want to take any chances, going so far as to buy its own plane ticket.

Back in the studio, Gabriel’s ego boosted at his brother’s absence and decided to have a little bit of fun.

“Gabe, stop it.” Kevin was intricately beading a portion of silk chiffon and Gabriel’s blowing on the back of his neck was starting to irritate him.

“Or what? You’re too busy to do anything,” Gabriel teased.

“Or I’ll call Jo to come kick you in the shin.” Kevin smiled down at the fabric. “Or, better yet, somewhere where it’ll really hurt.”

Gabriel backed off quickly. “Wow, Kevin. You’ve got some balls.”

“Yep.” Kevin looked up at him and gloated. “And now you do as well.”

Gabriel gave him an annoyed look but tried to find someone else he could bother. He finished his toile a few days ago, his client’s outfit yesterday, and with fittings scheduled for after Castiel came back he didn’t have much to do.

“What are you doing?” Ellen’s voice boomed at the doorway across the room from where Gabriel stood.

Nearly everyone – except Kevin – stopped and stared as Ellen sauntered her way to Gabriel. He wasn’t quite sure how to react, and his usual flight or fight response froze at Ellen’s voice.

“Okay, who ratted me out?” Gabriel jokingly addressed everyone, though no one replied.

“No one did. Don’t you think I know what’s going on in my atelier?” Ellen made her way to him. “So what are you doing?”

Gabriel looked at Kevin for help, but Kevin kept his concentration to his beading. “Nothing?”

“And why are you doing nothing?” She was obviously trying to get him to say something incriminating.

“Muslin’s done. My client’s outfit is finished and she’s not coming in till next Friday to do the last fitting. No fittings for either line are happening until Castiel is coming back. There’s nothing to do?” Gabriel phrased the last part as a question.

She considered him a moment. “Go help Kevin.”

It was at this point that Kevin lost his concentration, dropping a few beads. “Respectfully, Ellen, I think I can handle it.”

“I’d rather he help than terrorize everyone else. Plus, Kevin, we’re doing fittings when he comes back and you still have a long way to go.” She eyed the fabric. “Let him help.”

Kevin sighed. “Fine.”

Gabriel gleefully took a seat. A little while later Jo came in and took a seat with them.

“Guess what I have.” Jo whispered.

“What?” Kevin answered, and with his concentration focused on the beading he couldn’t see the mischievous look in Jo’s eyes.

Gabriel was weirdly focused on the task at hand as well and didn’t answer.

“I have the list of models that Castiel chose for his menswear line.” She excitedly bounced in her seat.

Gabriel’s concentration broke and his head whipped towards her. “What? How? He won’t show it even to me, his own dear brother.”

“I’m sort of temporarily acting as Anna, according to mom’s instructions, so I have to sign for the packages and stuff. Well, I might have accidentally opened one up, you know, to make sure it’s not a bomb or something, and surprise surprise it was a contract. After just a little digging, I found the list on Anna’s computer.” She looked around sneakily hoping no one heard her.

“So who’s on it?” Gabriel asked, now curious.

“Who do you think?” She looked at him with a wicked look in her eye.

“Please don’t say Lucifer, please don’t say Lucifer.” Gabriel clasped his hands together in a praying motion, trying to push away the humiliating memories he held with the modelling brothers.

“Lucifer.” she let out a laugh. “And Michael, actually. Here, I took a picture of the list with my phone.”

Gabriel took the phone from her hands and scrolled down, making whistling noises as he made his way down the list. Jo was interested as to why Kevin didn’t seem to be interested in knowing who would premiere Castiel’s first couture menswear line, but he just replied that models change from season to season and it wouldn’t matter after the fashion show was over.

“Dean Winchester?” He finally scrolled to the bottom of the list. “Really? I swear Cas has something against Tom Ford/Armani/Hugo Boss types.”

“Right?” She leaned into his space, taking her phone back. “Guess not?”

“I know his brother,” Kevin mindlessly added to the conversation.

“Dean’s?”

“Yep. He and I did our undergrad at the same place, though can’t say I finished there.” He laughed. “Met Dean a couple times.”

“What’s he like?” Jo was fascinated – she wouldn’t admit it to anyone, or herself, but Dean was pretty to look at.

He put down the fabric and needle, pondering the right words to describe Dean. “It’s like looking into the sun.”

Kevin grinned and returned to work.

“Better buy some sunglasses for Cassie.” Gabriel giggled.

 

    

 

 Dean was chatting with his brother, Sam, in Sam’s apartment that evening about the metaphysical universe as they know it – or rather, that’s what he thought Sam was talking about. He zoned out a little after his brother started mentioning something about a law case. It was a tiring day – one that involved him doing some ridiculous underwater shoot for a swimwear line only to hear that all they needed were leg shots showing off the swim trunks.

“And then the prosecution punched a member of the jury,” Sam ended his story, bringing him back to reality.

“Wow.” He tried to sound interested, but all he wanted to do was to take a nap.

“Okay, what’s up? Why’d you call me to hang if you’re just going to fall asleep?”

“Sorry, I’m just a bit drained. I spent most of the day treading water for a photo shoot.” He shook his head, rubbing his forehead.

“Here, let me make you food,” Sam said, getting up from his spot on the couch.

“No, Sammy, it’s fine.”

Sam ignored his protests and made food for him anyways. It made him feel strange being taken care of, especially by his younger brother, when all he did when he was younger was to take care of him. To think that this was their lives – one successful lawyer and one moderately successful male model. Dean’s younger self would probably laugh.

“So seriously, why’d you want to hang out if you are this tired?” Sam asked, setting a bowl of pasta in front of him.

Dean took a few mouthfuls before answering him. “That’s just it. I’m tired. Five years ago I would be out and partying it up. Now? I’m in bed by ten. That’s just pathetic.”

“So you’re tired? So what? Everyone gets tired.”

“I’m 33, Sam.” He wasn’t particularly good at explaining the situation at hand. “I’m considered a senior in the modelling world.”

“Yeah, but you still have jobs. Your experience puts you at the front of the line.” He reassured him that he was worrying over nothing.

“But don’t you think I should be thinking of the future?” Dean shovelled another forkful of food into his mouth. “I mean, I’ll maybe last another two, three years before jobs run dry. I’m getting lines on my face, for God’s sake.”

Sam pondered that for a moment, pursing his lips as he was deep in thought. “Before you wanted to be a model, what did you say you wanted to do?”

“I don’t know. Go to college?” Dean shrugged.

“Then do that,” Sam said as if that was the easiest thing in the world. “Go back to school.”

“Yeah, no,” he scoffed. “I really don’t want to go back to school with a bunch of 18 year olds. I bet you some of them have probably seen me in magazine ads. I do not need them to ogle.”

“Don’t feel ashamed of your age, Dean,” he sighed. “And there are such things as online degrees and classes.”

He stood up from the couch, putting his dishes in the sink. From over his shoulder he heard Sam. “Just a suggestion!”

It was a pretty good suggestion the more he thought about it. Unless he was going to be talent scouted for something huge – which was unlikely anyways in an industry already dominated by female supermodels – he would have to think long term. He brought over some beers stolen from the fridge.

“Any upcoming jobs?” Sam asked as they began watching TV.

“Yeah, one, but I can’t talk about it. Had to sign a NDA,” Dean flipped through the channels aimlessly until he found a movie that was bearable. “Though I could probably tell you about the casting.”

“What do the terms of the agreement say?” Sam got into lawyer mode the moment he mentioned the non-disclosure agreement.

He hummed, thinking about it for a moment. “Basically, I can’t mention who the designer is, what the brand is, and what I’ll be doing. I can’t publicly talk to any media about the line when I see the clothes.”

“Wow, that seems awfully private.” Sam took a sip. “You can’t even mention the brand?”

“Nope. Though, knowing who it is, I guess it makes sense.” Dean shrugged.

“Don’t tell me it’s Crowley,” he hissed.

He scoffed, “It’s not.”

“So casting call? What happened?”

He began relating most of the details to his brother. Everything from the really strange set up to the comments he probably shouldn’t have overheard. He explained that he was really confused about why he was chosen as one of the models, but didn’t talk about running into Castiel at the café. He did mention that designer seemed like a dick, but Sam said not to solidify that impression in his mind.

A phone call interrupted Dean. “Meg? What’s up? Wait, what? What interviews?”


	6. Chapter 6

Castiel was exhausted and ready to collapse into his bed. He never coped well with jet lag, unlike Anna, so he was ready to call it a night even though it was only 2 pm on a Saturday. Thinking about the last couple of days made his head hurt and he couldn’t even imagine how anyone, much less Naomi, could cope with the insanity.

It started off as normal as it could – landing in London with the Gown, they were immediately whisked off to the shoot in the countryside, where they found themselves in a magnificent English estate amongst other designers. Castiel found himself to be one of the underdogs. Out of all of them, he thought his designs were definitely a little more outlandish than most and wondered why Naomi would choose him. Thankfully though, Naomi didn’t pick the likes of Crowley or Dick Roman, but he did have to encounter Rowena. She spent most of the time saying that the Scottish countryside was better and that castles were abundant there.

When it came to the actual shoot, Anna was dolled up with the most expensive jewellery complimenting the Gown. Her hair was made wavy and draped over one shoulder, reminiscent of 1940s glamour. Although Castiel was a little biased because she was his friend and assistant, he decided she was the most beautiful model at the shoot.

“She’s gorgeous. And that dress, Castiel,” Pamela Barnes somehow made her way to him, whispering in his ear. “It is a masterpiece worthy of the name.”

He turned around and looked at the denim clad, Ramones tank top wearing photographer that was Pamela. “I didn’t realize you were shooting this.”

“Of course not. Naomi never tells anyone anything.” She smiled at him. “You ready?”

“For what?” He tilted his head.

“For your close-up.” She tapped his nose.

“My what?”

“Naomi is asking, well, more like telling, each designer to be in the picture as well,” Pamela explained. “It’s supposed to add authenticity. I mean there would be no dress without the designer.”

His heart immediately began to race – he never was one to be in front of the camera, especially in something so important as this.

“But … but.” He looked down at his outfit. “I’m wearing this. I can’t wear a suit and a trench coat.”

“You look great, Castiel,” she patted his shoulder. “Come on, time to put on a vaguely serious smile.”

She led him to the shooting area, and let him observe while she took pictures of Anna expertly posing. He was feeling extremely anxious and slightly claustrophobic – even in the grand ballroom/library they found themselves in. Anna was on the ladder when Pamela gently nudged Castiel towards her. Feeling stiff, he leaned against the ladder and gave Pamela all authority to tell him what to do. He must have been giving her a deer-in-the-headlights look, for she put her camera down gave him a “Seriously?” expression.

“Come on, Cas,” Anna said. “Have fun with it.”

He looked at her, gesturing wildly. “I’m not a model. I don’t know how to do this.”

She must have had a brilliant idea in her head for the only warning she gave him was, “Catch me.”

Anna let go of her support on the ladder and fell into Castiel’s arms. Luckily, he not only caught her in time, but Pamela managed to get a picture of it. Castiel, as gently as he could without ruining the dress or Anna, put her right ways up.

“Never do that again,” he warned.

“Let’s see the picture!” She rushed over to Pamela, ignoring him.

He eventually made his way to where both women were and looked at the picture. Somehow it actually looked okay! It showed him carrying her bridal style with her left arm extended and her legs kicked up. Anna managed to get an excited smile in, and he was miraculously looking at the camera with a surprised look on his face.

  

“Damn, the shadows,” Pamela sharply exhaled. “Guess it could be edited out.”

He looked closer at the picture. The way the lights and flash went off and the way that Anna was positioned shone what looked like wings against Castiel’s figure.

“You look like an angel!” Anna exclaimed. “That’s so cool!”

“We might have to take a few more.” Pamela breathed in deeply. “As much as I love this shot, Naomi and her editing department might not. Let’s try something a little safer than you falling into his arms.”

The surprise fall managed to worm him out of his shy shell and he began to experiment with the poses a bit more. Instead of standing there, he interacted with Anna and the dress, going so far as to twirl her around the ballroom. When Anna saw that shot of them dancing, she asked for Pamela to send it to her, declaring it to be her favourite picture. Finally it came to the last shots of the day where all the designers would gather together, get their pictures taken in one big group shot, then the models in one big group shot, and then them all together. In all honesty, he hoped that this was the last time he’d ever have to take a picture.

He wished that was all he had to do overseas, but they still needed to do the behind the scenes interview. He noticed the film crew wandering all day and wondered if they caught Anna falling off the ladder. That would have been interesting to see. Either way, he’d have to face another camera, explaining the day in his words and perhaps his process of creating the Gown. After that would be another interview to be published in the magazine. He couldn’t wait to go home.

When he did come home, he hated that his body couldn’t properly function at 2 in the afternoon. Though sleep helped, he ended up waking at 3:45 in the morning unable to go back to dreamland. His only respite from the loneliness of his bed and the utter darkness surrounding his body was his favourite café being open 24 hours. With his phone, wallet, pencil and sketchbook in hand, he made the ten-minute trek there hoping that the barista wouldn’t hate him for taking up their time. He was shockingly not the only customer there. Dean Winchester was sitting on the same couch and in the same spot seemingly eating the same sandwich. Castiel had two options in front of him: be the weird loner designer and have his coffee in the other corner of the café, or join Dean and get to know the model he chose.

He went with the latter.

“Hi, sorry, can I join you?” He started off softly.

Dean looked up with surprise in his eyes. “Uh, yeah, sure. That’s cool.”

Of all the people that could have possible sat down, Dean couldn’t believe that it was Castiel. Maybe talking (and complaining) about the designer too much had a Beetlejuice effect.

“Um, how are you?” Castiel asked, sitting across from him.

“Good,” He dragged out his answer. “You?”

“Fine, thank you.”

Dean’s mind was screaming to say anything so that they could avoid the inevitable awkward silence bound to come up. “I guess I should thank you for giving me a job?”

Castiel was caught off guard. “Oh, right. You’re welcome. I suppose I should thank you for representing it.”

“I gotta ask,” Dean blurted out before he could stop himself. “Why me?”

“What do you mean?” Castiel was confused, unsure of where this conversation was going.

“I did hear you say that I was plain and boring.” He, again, couldn’t stop himself, even when Castiel visibly flinched. “And yet I get a contract saying that you’ve hired me? And now we’re doing interviews tomorrow?”

“The interviews.” Castiel closed his eyes and sighed – in the madness of the London photo shoot he completely forgot about that. “Sorry, forgot about those.”

“Hey, you’re a busy guy.” Dean shrugged.

“To answer your question, and to be perfectly honest.” Castiel put his coffee down on the table. “I’m not sure why I chose you, but I do apologize for calling you plain and boring.”

“Nah, I get it. I know your stuff – I’m ordinary compared to your clothes.” He took a bite out of his sandwich and spoke with his mouth full. “Guess it’s my charming nature that got you.”

Castiel laughed at the man, but it was a nice feeling. Dean was glad he could make the clearly stressed out designer feel some sort of joy. Sam was right after all – first impressions were dumb.

“So what are you doing here at 4 am?” Dean asked, looking at his watch.

“I just came back from London. Jet lag has not been my friend.” Castiel yawned. “I guess I came here to sketch.”

“Well don’t let me stop you. I’ll be here till just before the sun rises and then I’m off to another photo shoot,” he explained his reason for being at a café at an ungodly hour. “Damn sunrises.”

They settled into a rather comfortable silence, the only sounds being Dean’s chewing and Castiel’s pencil gliding across paper. A little while later Dean stood up and walked over to the garbage can throwing away his wrapper. Coming back he stopped just behind Castiel and gazed down at the drawings.

“If you’re going to tell me that I can just hire someone to do this for me, trust me, I know,” Castiel said a little annoyingly.

“Actually, I was going to say that they’re really good.” Dean walked back to the couch and sat down.

Castiel looked at him, examining him.

“What?” Dean didn’t understand the lingering gaze, and it was beginning to unsettle him.

“I’ve been in this industry a long time, Dean,” he began. “No one has ever told me that. Even my professors at Parsons thought my drawing skills were mediocre at best.”

“Well, what do they know,” Dean retorted. “Anyways, I’m off. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Right, the interviews.” Castiel slumped his shoulders, forgetting for a second time.

Dean chuckled. “See you later.”

The smile remained on Dean’s face longer than he expected. Castiel seemed like an okay guy after all. Though it was hard to deny that he was kind of a little strange – the man was wearing a suit at 4 in the morning – but he was good looking too, in a sort of dorky way. For once, he was looking forward to an interview.

Castiel, on the other hand, was no closer to solving the mystery of why Dean Winchester was one of his models. Sure, he was incredibly hot and had the greenest eyes he’d ever seen, and that was saying something, but there was this strange pull to the model that he couldn’t shake off (not that he wanted to).

The designer resumed sketching until the morning rush of coffee addicts arrived. Though it was a Sunday morning, the café began getting a little too crowded and a few fashion students sitting just out of his peripheral made no attempts to hide their staring. Before leaving, he got himself another highly caffeinated beverage and silently thanked the barista for working in the only café that seemed to make sandwiches at 3 in the morning.

 

 

 

Castiel quickly skimmed through each question that Rafael prepared. Not only did he voice his concerns about it sounding like he was about to hire someone, but he reminded Raf that these models already had the job. There were also a few that didn’t even make sense – why would he want to know what kind of colour they’d be? Raf shrugged and said that these questions would show how the models react and that would determine if they could stand the limelight of being a spokesperson for the brand or if they’d be a PR problem. He conceded – Raf did have a point.

Returning to work that Monday was not fun for either Castiel or Anna. Though she fared a little bit better with the jetlag, not travelling in such a long span of time took its toll on her. He didn’t have an excuse, but there he was sitting in between Raf and Anna on the couch in his office with his large triple red eye, a pen, and the questions. Twenty models, five hours. Thank god his couches were comfy.

“Okay, shall we?” Castiel looked over.

Raf motioned the assistant to bring in the first man. Fifteen minutes later, another interview. Then another. And another. It got to the point where he could almost predict the vainness of the model’s answers sitting in front of him. He desperately requested a break and another coffee. Anna wholeheartedly concurred, making a quick dash to the nearest coffee place.

He turned to Raf, who was sending an email on his phone, “If I had done these interviews before a casting, or if anyone ever did interviews like this for any casting calls, they would not hire half of who they saw.”

The answers to some of the questions made him understand why the public eye saw some models as vapid and self-absorbed. Most of the answers weren’t that bad, but to put them in front of a camera or interview would be a disaster.

“Course not. We’re in the business of selling a face – not their personality.” Rafael didn’t even look up.

“Except for this time.” Castiel slumped into his chair, though that motion did not help keep him awake.

“Cas,” Anna suddenly appeared in front of him with coffee cups in her hands. “Here.”

He graciously took a sip and the hot liquid burning his tongue shocked him awake. There were ten more interviews to go and if he fell asleep, Rafael might kill him. Though if he heard the reason for modelling as “giving back to the community with my beautiful face” one more time, he might kill himself. It was like these men never had any interpersonal skills, but rather relied on their perfectly chiselled jaws to get themselves further in life.

“Ready?” Raf nudged Castiel, who nodded.

The next person who walked in was Dean and Castiel immediately sat up, which quickly caught Anna’s attention.

“Dean, please sit down.” He motioned to the couch in front of them. “This is Rafael, my marketing director, and you know Anna.”

Dean smiled and sat down, addressing them all. “How’s it going?”

“Fine,” Raf spoke for them. “So please keep in mind that the information we are telling you and the questions we ask will be subject to the terms of the NDA, but it also goes both ways. Is that clear?”

“Yes.” Dean nodded curtly.

“And your modelling agency explained the purpose of the interview?” Raf prodded.

“She said that this was a pre-screening to see if we can work well together? To make sure we’re not crazy? Her words.” Dean recounted. “She didn’t explain much.”

“Great, then we can get started. Cas?” Raf looked at him to start the questions off.

Castiel chose a simple, but loaded, one. “Tell me about yourself.”

Dean took a breath. “Name’s Dean. I’m from Lawrence, Kansas, though I moved around a lot when I was a kid. I started modelling when I was a junior in high school and never stopped. Moved here when I was about twenty-two. Been here ever since. I’ve done everything from editorial shoots to runway and a few small ads here and there.”

Anna and Raf scribbled down notes, but Castiel didn’t – he wanted to have a conversation with the man. “Any other work experience or schooling?”

“Kinda? I mean, I worked in my uncle’s shop. Fixed cars. Never went to college or anything.” Dean shrugged, slightly embarrassed at that fact.

“Why’d you get into modelling?” He asked another.

“Well,” Dean hesitated, carefully choosing the right words so as to not completely reveal his scattered childhood. “When my parents died, any job was a good job. I needed to find a way to support my brother and, I guess, modelling was the one that stuck. I mean it’s not that I don’t like it or anything, because I definitely appreciate the fact that it kept both me and Sammy fed, but I guess it isn’t exactly the answer you were looking for.”

“No, please, continue,” Castiel egged on.

“When I started, I thought I wasn’t good looking enough and that the idea of it was kinda dumb.” Dean scratched the back of his neck. “But then thinking about the future and my brother’s made me realize that if I can somehow put him through college so he could get a crack at his dreams, then maybe it wasn’t a bad idea.”

“Wow,” Anna sighed. “That’s really … admirable.”

He shrugged. “Thanks. It was worth it in the end. Now he’s a hotshot lawyer.”

“Now that he’s achieved his dreams, what about yours? What did you aspire to be before becoming a model?” Raf asked his question mechanically.

“Honestly, I’m not sure. I knew I wanted to go to college, but it seemed like a faraway dream.” Dean smiled softly, leaning in. “I’m happy with my career. It’s given me experiences I wouldn’t trade for the world.”

Anna nudged Castiel to ask the next question. “Um, what is one thing you would never do at a shoot or show?”

Dean’s eyebrow raised a bit, but he went back to his neutral expression. “I can’t say I know my own limits – I mean, you’ve seen my cowboy shoot and those brick pants,” He directed some humour towards Anna, who laughed. “I’d want to do whatever it takes to promote the brand in the best light, and if that means going nude, then so be it.”

 _Did I just say that?_ Dean thought to himself.

 _Did he just say that?_ Castiel thought to himself.

Both Dean and Castiel avoided each other’s gaze for a moment, but Raf used that opportunity to step in with a question not listed on the sheet, “What do you think of Castiel’s brand and the clothes he designs?”

Anna and Castiel whipped their heads around at Rafael, with Castiel going almost bug-eyed at him. Dean caught this change in pace and wondered if this question was as unexpected as their reactions.

“You don’t have to answer that, Dean.” Castiel looked at him with a bit of terror in his eyes, surprising him. “Rafael is just taking some liberties with the questions at my expense.”

“No, that’s okay.” Dean took in a deep breath, looking at his hands before answering. “You know when you first get to New York City?

“Sure,” Raf began writing, but Castiel remained watching him.

“You don’t quite believe it when you see it – the sights, the sounds, the smells,” he laughed, speaking to Castiel. “It’s dizzying. Full of traffic and people and it gives you a kind of headache?”

Anna and Raf were sceptical at the description but allowed him to continue.

“That’s the fashion industry. Then you stop and really look beyond all that commotion and you see the beauty of the city, the architecture, and the way colours blend together so magically. That’s what Castiel and his brand is. In a city of chaos of a million people never sleeping and always changing, he stands out. When you stop and look, there he is.”

Dean swore that he could hear a needle drop from the studio just a few steps down the hall.

Rafael was the first to speak, clearing his throat. “Well, that’s quite the description. Wouldn’t you say, Castiel?”

Castiel closed his apparently gaped mouth and nodded quickly. “Yeah.”

Rafael definitely composed himself a bit better, though it wasn’t like Dean was complimenting him. “I think our time is up. Thank you for coming in, Dean.”

Dean nodded, his face unsure of the appropriate expression to emote, but stood up and shook their hands before leaving.

“Okay,” Anna announced a little too loudly. “He must have practiced that, no one just says that. I mean he’s the obvious winner, but holy hell, Cas.”

“His statement was genuine,” Raf concluded, and then turned to him with the most serious look on his face. “Castiel, I need you to be honest with me. Who is he?”

“I don’t understand.”

“Did you hook up with him? Do you have a previous or current relationship with him?”

“What!? No! I met him two, three weeks ago at the casting!” He defended himself. “This is the third time we’ve ever spoken.”

“Third?” Anna caught that and he regretted saying it. “What do you mean by third?”

“Well the first at the casting, then yesterday early morning, and now today.” Castiel quickly backtracked. “Either way, it doesn’t matter. We’re wasting time. We still have the rest of the interviews to do.

“Yesterday morning?” Rafael was trying his best to get a word in, but Anna spoke first. “What happened?”

He huffed. “I’ll tell you later. It was nothing bad.” He turned to Raf. “We just talked in a café.”

Rafael clearly wanted to prod for more information, but they still had models waiting to come in for their fifteen minutes. “In good faith I will let this matter go, but if this becomes a PR disaster and we find out that you slept with the man before you cast him, this is on you. Not for nothing, Castiel, but chemistry like that doesn’t just appear from meeting three times.”

“I did not sleep with him. He’s probably straight anyways with the way he was flirting with Anna,” Castiel sat back into his couch. “Let’s finish the interviews.”

The rest of the interviews were mediocre at best. A few models managed to stand out, but when faced with unexpected questions, they became incredibly flustered and were unable to plaster a pretty face to recover. At the end, the three that sat on the couch knew that Dean was the most down-to-earth and the sanest of all the models.

“It has to be Dean.” Anna took a seat on the other couch, giving Castiel and Rafael ample space. “All the other models are either too dumb, too vain, or too inexperienced with public speaking.”

“Public speaking?” Castiel looked at her.

“If the spokesman for your line is put in front of an interviewer, we have to believe that they can conduct themselves in a professional manner. If there are too many ums, uhs, or likes in a sentence, it reflects poorly on you and your brand,” Rafael explained. “If they appear with you at an event, we have to believe that they won’t throw you under the bus with something they said.”

“So wait, now they have to be at events with me?” Castiel narrowed his eyes. “You didn’t mention this.”

“It was … implied,” Rafael chose his words carefully. “We’ll discuss the logistics afterwards.”

“So, Cas?” Anna looked at him impatiently. “Choose!”

It wasn’t a hard choice. “Dean.”

“Second choice?” Rafael asked.

“Uh, Michael, I guess.” Castiel shuffled his papers.

“Okay, I will send out a background check for legal to do, and if everything checks out, and we find he didn’t sleep with you, I’ll get them to send out an amended contract and it’ll get to his agency by the end of today. If he doesn’t accept, I’ll move forward with Michael.” Rafael gathered his things and stood up alongside Castiel who tried to protest the hooking up statement. “Trust me, this will be good.”

Castiel sat back down, his hands to his face. Anna noticed the frustration coming from him and moved closer to him.

“What’s wrong, Cas?”

He looked at her, searching her eyes. “Is this really a good idea?”

She pursed her lips. “Professionally, yes. Personally, probably not.”

“Personally?”

“Cas, if you haven’t noticed yet, and I don’t know how you haven’t, but he _likes_ you. Did you hear how he described your brand? And that body language!” She gave him a pointed look. “No matter what you said the first time you saw him, I think you might like him, too. It doesn’t help that he’s gorgeous, has an amazing smile, and you could literally get lost in those eyes.”

Her eyes started to glaze over as she began daydreaming, but he snapped her out of it. “Hey, stop dreaming about Dean.”

She composed herself. “All I’m saying is that you fall for people too hard and too fast. You need to keep this strictly professional. Otherwise HR, Raf, and the media are gonna have a field day with you. Okay?”

He nodded, knowing full well what she was talking about. If Anna was right and he was developing any sort of feelings for Dean, it had to be stopped right now, especially if he was going to be the face of the brand for the next little while.

 

  

 

Dean came out of the interview in a state of confusion. The interview ended rather abruptly after he over-shared. He thought he must have overstepped some sort of boundary with his last statement. Sure, it was a little cheesy, but it did come from his heart. Who knew his brain had it in him to actually go ahead and say it out loud. Maybe Meg was right after all – the blue eyes got to him. The way the interview finished made him wonder if what he did say made everyone in the room uncomfortable or if it really was times-up. Thinking back, he thought that maybe his answers were too boring anyways considering the lineup of models that also had to go for their interviews. Perhaps they were more interesting, telling their modeling stories that eclipsed his. Whatever the purpose of the interview, he assumed he wasn’t going to get chosen.


	7. Chapter 7

“You’re kidding.” Dean was stunned into thinking that this whole thing was a joke. “They what?!”

People were now staring at the man making an outburst in the middle of the street. Dean hid his face and kept walking.

“They want you to be the spokes-model for Castiel’s menswear line. Whatever charm you pulled during that interview must have worked, because it was apparently a unanimous decision.” Meg smacked her lips together. “And you know, not many people can resist Winchester charms. Speaking of, how is your brother doing?”

“Oh, shut up, Meg,” he groaned. “So what now?”

“You come in and sign this amended contract,” she stated simply.

“What’s in it? What’s it say?”

“Come in and read it yourself.” She hung up, leaving him with a faster gait.

He burst into the agency startling the poor receptionist. Walking straight into Meg’s office she handed over the contract without a word. He took it out of the envelope and began to read. Most of the original contract was there but it was the highlighted information that made it noteworthy. The big one that he noticed was the inability to take any other jobs during the duration of being a spokes-model.

“Act as the face of the brand for the first menswear collection,” he spoke to himself as he read it. “Follow the rules established to professionally conduct yourself among the media and the public … Attend various promotional events … Partake in interviews …” At the end was another NDA and a 24 hour deadline to which he had to either accept or decline the contract.

“This is insane.” He looked up at Meg. “They want me to be the face of the brand?”

“For the season,” she pointed out. “And just the menswear line.”

“But this is big.”

“Very.”

“And they want me?”

“Yep.”

“They’ve never done anything like this before.”

“I am aware of that.”

“Should I do it?”

“Up to you,” she shrugged. “Take the day to think about it. Consult your lawyer brother. Do whatever you need.”

He looked at her skeptically – he’d never gotten an answer like this from her before.

“I’d say yes.” There it was. “But that’s just me.”

He stood up, nodding once. “Okay. I’ll take a look at it. I’ll let you know by the end of today.”

“Don’t take too long, sweet cheeks.” She moved a strand of hair from her face. “If you don’t answer before noon tomorrow, I hear Michael is their second choice.”

Dean opened his mouth to say something but said nothing, instead turning around and heading out of her office with a careful grip on the contract. He wanted to take a closer look at it and maybe take up Meg’s advice and consult with his brother. With that thought he pulled out his phone and dialled Sam. Getting his voicemail, he reasoned Sam was probably in the courtroom right now.

Dean left a short and simple message, “Hey, it’s Dean. Call me back when you get this.”

He wasn’t quite sure what to do for the rest of the day. He didn’t have any particular modelling jobs to get to and he didn’t want to go back to his apartment. He needed to talk to someone about this, and technically, he didn’t sign the new NDA yet so maybe he could. Standing just outside the agency, Dean scrolled through his phone and came upon a number.

“Hey? Charlie? You free? I think I need to update my portfolio.”

 

  

 

“You’re fidgeting,” Ellen grasped Castiel’s hand to stop him. “Why are you fidgeting?”

He turned away from her, electing to walk behind the fit model to examine the fit of the blouse. It was a day after the contract was amended and given to Dean’s agency for him to look at. Castiel wasn’t quite sure why it was taking so long to get a response, but knowing that Dean’s boss was Meg Masters he could understand if she wanted to torture him a bit. There was still time before the noon deadline, but in all honesty he expected the news to hit him as soon as he walked in the door. Either way he had other things to worry about.

They were well into the last fittings for the womenswear collection. Because it took a little while longer to come up with something for his menswear line, the studio began working on the muslins for the women’s line. The staggering of production gave some interesting overlap, with them finishing the line earlier than expected. After fittings were over, they’d only need a few days to make any adjustments, and then it would be full steam ahead with the men’s line. The next few days would probably be mayhem for Cas – with adjustments and first fittings of the men’s line to oversee, photoshoots for the women’s collection and all the little things in between were going to take up his days and nights. Adding Dean to the equation – should he sign the damn contract – would maybe put him past the tipping point into insanity.

“Nope, this one, you need to pull the waistline higher by at least half an inch.” He pointed at the blouse. “But keep the length. Extend the godets at the bottom by an inch. I want more flare, more structure.”

“Got it.” Kevin nodded. “What do you suggest we use to enhance the structure?”

“Interfacing isn’t enough.” He felt the beaded material that Kevin created. “Use boning at the seams. Steel might be too heavy, though. Is there interfacing in the lining?”

“Yep, medium-weight.”

“Let’s try a heavy-weight with thin flexible boning. I want to see how that plays with the shape.” Castiel stepped away.

Kevin motioned for the model to take off the blouse and they moved onto the next garment. Castiel provided comments for each and eventually fittings came to an end. It was right at noon when he returned to his office. Anna wasn’t at her desk for him to ask if there was any news about Dean or the contract – there were no texts and calls from her either, during the fitting – but there was a little note taped to his computer screen.

“Come see me. Raf, ” he read it out loud.

Thinking he was about to learn that Dean declined and Michael took his place, he grudgingly made his way to Raf’s office. The way Rafael’s office was set up was unlike his. Whereas Castiel’s was relatively closed off yet constantly flooded with natural sunlight to make it welcoming, Rafael’s was almost always dark. The darkness was half of the reason why he couldn’t make out the one figure sitting in the chair and the other standing behind the desk beside Raf. Castiel opened the door without knocking, and all eyes turned to him – including a very familiar pair of green ones.

“Cas, great.” Rafael motioned for him to come in.

Dean stood up as soon as Castiel entered. They shook hands, even if it was rather formal to do so, and then they both sat down.

“So obviously,” Raf began. “Dean has accepted the contract.”

Castiel nodded.

“We’ll begin with some media and PR training. The next step would be to familiarize him to your world. He needs to know the brand inside and out – even the secrets – so that he doesn’t accidentally reveal or speculate to the media,” Rafael was reading off of notes he’d written earlier. “After that, we’ll send off a press release that you are officially releasing a menswear line with Dean as your spokes-model. With that come event appearances and other promotional opportunities. Then the fashion show, and then after that, the contract ends. Makes sense?”

“Yep,” Dean spoke as Castiel nodded again.

“Anything you want to add, Dean?” he looked at him.

Dean towards Castiel, “Let me know if I’m too much in your hair. That’s basically all I ask.”

Castiel smiled softly. “Of course.”

“Shall we get started, Dean?” Rafael motioned him to the door.

“Right, uh, see you later, Cas.” Dean looked at Castiel as he followed Raf out leaving him and Meg alone in the office.

“Well, hello, Clarence.” She walked from behind the desk into his personal space.

“Meg, it’s good to see you.” He didn’t move an inch. “It’s been a while.”

“Yes, it has.” She dragged a finger across his cheek. “The last time we were in a room together _things_ happened.”

He stood his ground, not wanting to bring up bad memories of her coming to his aid at his last breakup. “They did. But I’m hoping now that all that is behind us. There’s no man to help clean up after, no fight to eavesdrop on. I’m single and staying that way.”

“That’s good to hear.” She backed off, seeing that there was no drama to attach herself to. “Jesse was a dick, and that’s saying something coming from me. Speaking of being single …”

“No, you’re not playing matchmaker.” He tried to interrupt her before she got a chance to speak, but it was the rather professional look in her eye that stopped him from saying anymore.

“Why’d you choose Dean?” she asked point blank.

Somewhere he was expecting to hear this question, though in all his years in the industry, not one modelling agency ever dared to ask. He could trust that Meg would be so bold.

“I see that look in your eye, Castiel.” Oh god, she said his actual name. “Don’t lie to me.”

He bit his lip. Even now he still didn’t understand why he chose him. He didn’t know what on Earth made him see that silly headshot and think that he fit the brand. He didn’t know what it was about Dean’s personality that somehow had a hold around him enough to choose him to be the spokes-model. They’d literally only spoken four times – he knows nothing about Dean and yet, he _chose_ him.

“I don’t know,” was all he could say.

She narrowed her eyes and exhaled deeply. “Unfortunately, and god help me, I do.”

He leaned against the desk. “Well, any insight would be helpful.”

She snickered, walking out of the office. “Nah, Clarence. That’s for you to find out.”

He watched her exit, her perfectly tousled waves bouncing off her back against the fitted leather jacket. He smiled at the thought of her and their memories at school together. When all else failed, she seemed to be the one to bring him back up to the light even if she schemed her way to help him out. Standing by himself in Rafael’s office he realized how much time he was wasting and instead walked out and straight to the studio. He’d have to worry about Dean later.

 

 

Rafael gave Dean a quick tour of the building – everything from where the emergency exits were to where most of the action took place. It was definitely different for him to be seeing more of a designer’s studio than usual, but he adapted quickly and made a mental map in his head. Having to take an unexpected call, Rafael left him to Ellen’s devices, and she immediately made a judge of his character in the four seconds they were in each other’s presence.

“So you’re the spokes-model I keep hearing about.” She crossed her arms.

“Yes, ma’am.” Dean nodded, standing straight. “Though, I don’t know if it’s been announced yet.”

“Oh, I know everything that goes under this roof, no matter what Castiel thinks.” She winked. “Come, you need to meet some of the staff.”

She took his arm and dragged him over to do some introductions. He quickly went over the terms of the NDA in his head making sure he didn’t say anything he wasn’t supposed to.

“Oh good, the three musketeers are together,” she grumbled. “Kevin, Jo, Gabriel, meet …”

“Dean Winchester.” Gabriel somehow got a hold of Dean’s hand and began shaking it. “It is an honour. You truly are pretty in real life.”

“I, uh, thanks?” Dean looked at Ellen, who shrugged. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Jo dragged Gabriel away from him and said her hellos. He said a friendly hi to Kevin, who he didn’t realize worked for Castiel.

“I haven’t seen you in a while,” Dean spoke to him. “Since Sam won that big case last year.”

“Been busy.” Kevin motioned to the studio. “And Sam’s been pretty hectic running around being a big, fancy lawyer, not that I blame him. I bet he’s been working nonstop.”

Dean chuckled. “You got that right. So how’ve you been?”

As they caught up, Gabriel and Jo quietly conversed with each other about Dean – Gabriel about how good looking he was, and Jo about her inability to believe that Castiel chose such a normal person to head the line. He countered that if he knew his brother, he saw something in Dean that no one else did, or that he was a mystery that Castiel wanted to solve. Eventually Rafael came back to get Dean. He had to fit two weeks of PR and media relations training into two days, so there was no time to lose.

Rafael sat him inside a room filled with clothing racks and a giant board table. “So first thing’s first, are you Castiel’s boyfriend?”

His eyes bulged. “What?! No! We literally just met!”

“Wrong.” Rafael sighed. “When faced with unexpected questions such as that, you do not ever react the way you did – it makes you look guiltier.”

“Oh, so we’re starting …” he grimaced. “Alright, um, no, Castiel is not my boyfriend.”

“Better.” He pulled out a package of documents Dean didn’t even realize he was carrying. “But this is the proper way to respond.”

He began reading over pages and pages of potential questions and answers he’d apparently be getting over the next while. Some of them seemed too ridiculous to ask and he wondered why anyone would ask him if he ate asparagus. But, alas, there was an answer to that as well. Rafael asked him question after question, perfecting Dean’s response to each. Thankfully, he was a quick learner.

“Take a look at the rest of these in the next few days. Perhaps practice it with someone you know.” There was a knock at the door. “Ah, perfect. Ash, come on in.”

A man with a mullet and wearing plaid stepped inside. Dean became suspicious of the man, who clearly didn’t fit within the realm of fashion – unless he was just styled ironically.

“This is Ash,” Rafael introduced. “He’s going to go over social media with you.”

“How’s it going, dude?” Ash shook his hand as he placed his laptop on the glass table. “Winchester, right?”

“Yep!”

“Well, Dean Winchester.” He turned his laptop around, showing a rather embarrassing picture of Dean drunk off his ass on a table. “Mind telling me how this went down?”

“What the hell! Where’d you find that?! I thought I deleted it!”

“And this is where Ash comes in. Nothing is every truly deleted so we cannot have the tabloids find anything like this that might jeopardize the name of the brand.” Rafael patted Ash’s shoulder. “He’s going to purge the internet for any embarrassing traces of your dalliances.”

“That’s what I do.” Ash clasped his fingers together and began to type furiously.

“Would they really dig this deep, though? I mean, sure, a brand having a lesser-known model as a spokesperson is going to make news, but it’s not like I’m Brad Pitt getting caught cheating on Angelina Jolie or something.”

“You don’t understand, Dean,” Rafael spoke seriously. “The fashion industry sees this as an absolute first. If this crashes and burns, your career could be at stake and it may destroy the reputation of Castiel’s brand of being innovative. You, me, Castiel – we’re all committed, so it must be done correctly.”

Dean pondered that for a moment and realized that he was right. Another knock at the door interrupted before he could respond – this time, it was Anna with a cart of books.

“Just set them right here,” Rafael directed her. “These are the archives. Castiel has meticulously kept every sketch, every research, and even some fabric swatches from every single line he’s done since he started his brand. This is your homework. Look through it and try and understand his creative process.”

“This is all women’s clothing.” Dean looked up. “How does this relate to menswear?”

“You know that picture of you modelling as a cowboy?”

Dean was about to ask how he knew about that since he’d never seen his portfolio – at least, that he knew of.

“Seeing your shots from ten years ago versus now shows a drastic difference. This is how Castiel has progressed and how he has grown. In every single line you can see how different it is, and how it has led to him hiring you on. Study it.” Rafael pushed the books towards him. “Who knows, maybe a reporter will ask you your opinion on the women’s clothes. I certainly would. After that, I have some articles for you to read about Castiel and his development as a designer. I expect that you’ll be able to know the history by tomorrow afternoon.”

Feeling just a tad intimidated, Dean began studying the archives of Castiel’s designs. After about a few pages, he started to get it – the research, the motivation, the relentless picking out fabrics and trim. He couldn’t believe all the work that was put in. All the while Ash would occasionally laugh from his screen as he plucked the more embarrassing of Dean’s photos off the Internet. It somehow dissolved into him begging Ash to take down an apparent karaoke video of him singing “I’m Too Sexy.” He eventually did and left the boardroom when his job was done. Dean continued going through the archives and articles until a knock at the door made him look up.

“Dean? What are you still doing here?” It was Castiel, coffee in hand, a tired look in his eyes, and the perpetual bedhead hair. “It’s after 8.”

Dean blinked a few times in confusion. “Is it? I didn’t realize. I was going over some …”

He embarrassingly closed the books, but Castiel had already caught a glimpse of it to know what it was. “Let me guess, Rafael is making you read through that? You know you don’t have to.”

“It’s really cool.” Dean sheepishly looked down at the books. “It’s nice seeing what you’ve done. Not many models really stop and look at how far a designer’s come. I knew you were established and award winning, but this is just incredible.”

“No need to flatter me, Dean, you already have the job.” Castiel chuckled nervously.

“But it’s true,” he spoke to the designer with conviction. “You grew up in this grey world where you were pushed to do accounting and then you found colour and design. You followed something that told you to do more, to be more, and that shows in what you make.” Dean quickly went back to being sheepish, but with a tad more embarrassment to his tone. “Yeah, I may have also had to read up on you, but nothing too personal, I promise.”

Castiel didn’t really know what to say to this man he’d just met a little while ago, “That’s okay. I appreciate your kind words.”

There was a moment of silence between the two, with Castiel just staring at Dean, and Dean trying to avoid his glare.

“Um, I guess I’ll leave you to it,” Castiel started slowly. “I suppose I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He ducked out before Dean could even say goodbye.


	8. Chapter 8

It’d been a few days after of Dean learning more and more about the brand before anything really exciting happened. For him, it felt a lot like school – studying, research – and he was certain Rafael was going to ask for an essay. Deep down, he actually enjoyed it and the prospect of going back to school when his modelling days were over excited him.

He received a text at 8 am one morning requesting his presence in Castiel’s office ASAP, prompting him to hurriedly get ready. He had no idea what was going on but he wasn’t surprised by the text at all – sometimes he would get notified for a last minute shoot just twenty minutes before it was supposed to start. Greeting Anna first, she let him into his office. Castiel was sitting there awkwardly drinking coffee.

“Uh, good morning, Dean?” He looked terribly confused and slightly embarrassed at the face he was making at his too-hot coffee. “Can I help you with something?”

“I … uh … I thought,” Dean stammered, but Anna came in just a few seconds later.

“Right, so I just received an email from Raf saying that Dean will be spending the entire day with you.” She scrolled through the email on her phone. “Literally the entire day. He might test Dean tomorrow.”

“This is news to me.” Castiel looked back and forth between Anna and Dean.

“Me too.” Dean stood there in the middle of the room wondering if he should be sitting.

“Well.” Anna scrolled. “It’s supposed to help Dean get immersed in what you do, and it’s an opportunity to get to know each other. He doesn’t want any surprises sprung when legal sends out the press release out tomorrow morning.”

“That is also news to me.” Castiel stood up now. “Why tomorrow?”

“Because the J.Crew showing that Hannah invited you to, which you obviously already forgot about, is also tomorrow night,” she explained. “And Raf wants to test Dean out there.”

Castiel took in a deep breath as Dean blanched.

“This is quite soon.” He looked over at Dean. “Do you think you’ll be ready?”

He put on a confident face and nodded.

“Alright then.” Castiel could only shrug. “What’s on the schedule today?”

Anna hit a button on her phone and a notification beeped on his laptop. “There, just sent it.”

As she left he began reading his schedule out loud, “Meeting with fabric supplier, meeting with Ellen, client fitting, and accessories selection.”

Dean whistled. “Sounds busy. When do we start?”

He looked at the clock and then back at Dean. “In about half an hour. Did you want something to drink or eat? I was just going to answer some emails before the day started.”

“You know what? I saw that little bakery across the street. Mind if I grab something?” Dean asked, the lack-of-breakfast hunger was starting to get to him. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

“Absolutely.”

He smiled, got up from his spot, and exited the office. Castiel let out the apparent breath he was holding. He nervously tapped at his desk – spending the entire day with Dean did not seem like the best idea. He recalled Anna telling him to set up boundaries, so that was his game plan for the day.

Dean, on the other hand, knew that a lot was riding on making a good impression in front of the media. He knew that he’d occasionally blurt out something dumb, like that nude comment during his interview, so he was leaning on the training he had with Rafael. Buying a coffee and a muffin, he scarfed down the latter while precariously crossing the street. As soon as he re-entered Castiel’s office, he was bombarded with the sight of fabric samples covering nearly every surface that wasn’t the ground.

“Wow.” He looked around at all the samples – they were all exquisite and colourful.

“Dean, this is Frank, my fabric supplier,” Castiel made introductions. “Take a seat. We’re just looking at next season’s fabrics.”

He sat down and observed Castiel interact. He was especially careful not to spill any drop of his coffee. When Castiel and Frank spoke in fabric terms, it seemed like a different language altogether even when Dean had a physical sample to look at. Damask, jacquard, brocade looked the same to him. Tweed, twill, and tulle gave him a bit of headache, and what the heck was a bouclé and why did it cost so much? Oh, and don’t get him started on satin and sateen. The meeting eventually began to turn towards trims and it was then where he began to understand the insane prices that were associated with couture. He tried to reign in his emotions when Castiel would ask how much they were. He could not believe that one yard of trim could be $300. When it was finally over, Frank packed his samples back into his suitcase – a relatively battered one at that – and left.

“Are you okay? You looked like you were having a stroke,” Castiel asked him.

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat, though his voice went a little higher than expected. “Just never thought that fabric could be so expensive. I always thought that designers charge so much for their clothes because they were greedy. No offense.”

“None taken. I understand where that belief comes from, but couture is vastly different from ready-to-wear or fast fashion. The reason why clothes found in malls are so cheap is because they are made poorly. Even with cheap quality fabrics, bad fit, and clothes being made in sweatshops where they pay poor wages to their workers, these clothes still somehow dominate over the couture industry. Then again, it is hard for the regular consumer to justify spending a lot of money on something relatively out of their price range, but at least our clothes lasts a lifetime.” Castiel gathered his notes and stood up, walking the short distance to his desk. “Most of the revenue we make goes to the labour, fabric and overall operations of the brand. I do take in a bit of money at the end of the day, but I wouldn’t consider myself as wealthy as some other designers.”

“So what, you don’t live in some sort of mansion?”

“Nope.” He smiled. “Just a penthouse.”

“Just a penthouse,” Dean mocked jokingly.

“I am kidding. It’s a moderately sized apartment.” Castiel sighed. “Anyways, off to our next meeting?”

Dean followed the designer towards his atelier where Ellen was helping Gabriel out with one of the muslins for the menswear line. Castiel easily got distracted and began helping out, pushing Gabriel aside for just a moment.

“Dean-o!” Gabriel lit up. “Nice to see your handsome face. I have a question for you!”

“Sure?”

“Is your brother single and ready to mingle?” Gabriel waggled his eyebrows.

“Gabe,” Castiel warned as he balanced pins between his lips.

“What? It’s an honest question.”

“Pretty sure he doesn’t like guys,” Dean mentioned.

“Well, he hasn’t met me yet.” Gabriel winked.

“Yeah, even if, that is never gonna happen.” Dean motioned with his hands. “How do you even know I have a brother?”

“Kevin.” Gabriel pointed behind him and Kevin, who was walking towards them, made a 180-degree turn when he saw Dean’s annoyed face, and went back to wherever he came from.

After a little more poking and prodding at getting him to reveal details about his brother, Ellen forced Gabriel to continue with the toile, dragging Dean and Cas away to her small office. Castiel sat down as Dean leaned in the doorway – it was supposed to be a short meeting updating Castiel with what was happening.

“Timeline wise, we’re pretty on track,” she began. “Fittings should be going ahead on schedule for the day after tomorrow.”

“That’s earlier than expected.” Castiel leaned in. “I don’t know if we can get a model to come in.”

“You have Dean.” Ellen looked at him. “If Rafael has nothing planned for that day, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”

Dean shrugged. “It’s why I’m here.”

“Alright.” Castiel looked at him then back to Ellen. “Everything is finished with the women’s line?”

“There was a slight issue with one of the dresses. The fabric warped when it was being worked on, but we fixed it. It should be good to go for the shoot next week.” She flipped through her books. “By the way, one of your clients is having an issue with the fit, so they requested I fly in next week to fix it.”

“Seriously?” Dean piped in. “You do that?”

“A client’s needs are important to us. Without them there is no brand,” she explained as if it was the simplest thing in the world. “I think that’s it for me.”

“Great.” Castiel stood up. “Thank you, Ellen.”

He took one last look around the studio, watching as his employees worked to create something out of a sketch. Dean observed him the entire time, albeit sneakily – he didn’t want to just stare at the man. It was the loud rumbling of Dean’s stomach that broke Castiel’s trance and Dean just turned red.

“Lunch?” Castiel turned to him.

“God, yes.” Dean smiled widely.

“Great, follow me.”

Castiel led him back to his office where there were two plates of food waiting for them by the couches. Taking off the food cover, he saw the seemingly perfectly cooked steak, veggies, and a spoonful of mashed potatoes.

“Wow.”

“I wasn’t sure how you like your steak, so I asked for medium rare,” Castiel sat down in front of his plate. “I hope that’s alright.”

“Yeah, totally.” Dean began to salivate. “Is this what you usually have?”

“Not always. It’s usually protein and veggies with some sort of starch. I don’t eat as much as I should, so I try and get the most out of my lunch. Anna is the one that insists I actually eat during the day.”

“Well, good on her.”

They chatted as they ate – Dean, mostly about his forays into the beginning of his modelling career, and Castiel, mostly about how he went to fashion school older than most of his classmates.

“So you and Meg, how did that friendship happen?” Dean took a sip of his drink.

Castiel smiled, reminiscing at the memory. “She was persistent. She came to Parsons wanting to design ready-to-wear, left three months later with her own modelling agency. We were the oldest ones there. For some reason, she chose me to advance her career while also helping mine.”

Dean wanted to ask how he went from friendship to sleeping with her, but that was wholly inappropriate. Instead, he went with a milder version.

“How long did you guys date?” He took the last couple of bites from his steak, chewing and talking at the same time.

Castiel looked at him with wide eyes. “We most certainly did not date.”

“Oh?” Dean swallowed and plopped another piece of steak in his mouth. “She always seems … giggly when she talks about you.”

“Is that so?” Castiel made an amused face. “That’s quite surprising considering she has a girlfriend.”

Dean nearly choked. “What? Since when!?”

“I believe they’ve been in a committed relationship for six years now.” Castiel tapped at his chin.

“Seriously?” Dean went bugged eye. “I’ve known her for … I don’t even know now, but she’s never once mentioned a relationship. Oh, this is good material.”

“She’s very private.” Castiel smiled softly. “I can understand that.”

Dean took that as his cue to back off the relationship topic. It probably was a good idea in hindsight to ask him if he was romantically attached to anyone, but he didn’t want to put him or Castiel in an awkward position. Besides, Dean didn’t want to seem to interested.

After lunch came the client’s fitting and Dean did not understand how he had the patience to deal with such a horrible woman. When the fitting was over, Castiel graciously thanked her for coming and curiously looked at Dean, wondering why he was so red in the face. Dean came close to saying something very snippy, and said so to Castiel, but he just smiled and said it was part of the job. Sure, Dean could play cool and collected in front of the camera, but Castiel’s calm, professional composure in front of irritating people is what he envied.

The accessories selection was next and it was a long, arduous two-hour process. He swore he’d never seen so many shoes, handbags, and jewellery in his life. With certain ease, Castiel made his selections as Dean marvelled over the ingenuity of the designs. The designer had never seen a model so transfixed before, and but it did chip away at the confusing pile of “Why did I choose him?” Dean was … he was ...

“Captivating,” Castiel spoke out loud.

“What’s captivating?” Dean put down a purse and his eyes connected with Castiel’s.

His heart skipped a beat at the green gems that stared. “Nothing.”

“Okay,” Dean dragged that out. “Anyways, I think it’s almost time for me to head out. What time do you want me here for the fitting?”

“Bright and early. So 9:00?”

“Can do, boss. See you tomorrow.” He walked out of the space with the door closing softly behind, passed Anna’s desk and waved at her. “Bye, Anna!”

“Oh, no, wait a second.” her stern voice made him stop in his tracks. “Just where do you think you’re going?”

“Uh … home?” Dean looked at her.

“Don’t you remember what I said? What Raf said? You’re supposed to spend the entire day with Castiel.”

“I thought I did?” He was extremely confused.

“The entire work day. Castiel doesn’t stop working when it hits 5 o’clock. He works until he goes to bed,” Anna explained.

“Wait, are you serious?” Dean neared her. “No, don’t answer that. I knew that was dumb the moment I asked.”

“There’s no nine to five in the fashion industry. You know that,” Anna reminded him. “Besides, the J.Crew showing is tomorrow and it’ll probably end late. You might want to practice your speaking skills if you’re the type that gets more relaxed with your vocabulary the later it gets.”

He grimaced at the truth within that statement and walked back through the doors. “Surprise!”

“I don’t understand. Did you forget something?” Castiel was sitting down at one of the glass tables typing on his tablet.

“Turns out, I don’t finish working until you do. So, what’s next, Cas?”

He tried his hardest to convince the model that it was okay that he went home, but even Anna was persistent for some odd reason. It wasn’t like there was much to do – he accomplished all the tasks that needed to be done for that particular day. His evening would be spent either drawing or researching, and that didn’t seem like a fun task for Dean to accompany him in. Surprisingly, he was up for it. They ended up in the café and he explained that it was a great place to find inspiration.

“In a coffee shop?” Dean looked a tad incredulous. “What about a museum or an art gallery? Lots of hipsters and fashion forward people there.”

“You’ve explained exactly my point.” Castiel looked at him. “There are only certain types of people at museums and art galleries. Everyone needs caffeine or their sandwich.”

Dean looked at the sandwich he was holding in his hands and Castiel continued, “You get all walks of life in a place like this and everyone brings something special, whether it’s a student wearing bright fuchsia lipstick paired with a leather jacket, an elderly man in a perfectly tailored suit, or just a kitschy hair pin on a toddler. You notice these things and who knows, maybe it becomes the theme for the next line. Inspiration is everywhere. You just need to know where to look.”

“Huh.” Dean considered it for a moment before taking a big bite of his sandwich. “Guess I never thought about it that way. Is that how your line came to be? Did a coffee cup inspire you? Am I going to be wearing a coffee cup tomorrow?”

“Now if I reveal that, you’re gonna laugh.” Castiel shied away, looking at the customers in line.

“Try me.” Dean leaned in, his voice low and his expression dark – and if that sent shivers up Castiel’s spine, he would never say.

“You’re going to have to wait and see.” He leaned forward, challenging Dean.

Dean laughed, leaning back. “Okay, Cas.”

Castiel continued watching and Dean could feel his eyes on him, scrutinizing, observing, and it was unnerving and exhilarating. He couldn’t reason why he _enjoyed_ it, rather than feeling judged and small. Eventually, Castiel caught himself and remembered why he was in the café – he was working, after all, even if Dean was here with him. Somewhere in between people watching and sketching, Dean had moved his chair beside his. He felt a little self-conscious having Dean watch him draw, but he looked so enraptured.

“Can I?” Dean asked. “I mean, if it’s okay?”

Castiel was slightly hesitant, but handed over his sketchbook for him to see. “Sure.”

He started from page one and Castiel gulped. His very first drawings were crude at best, and he grimaced thinking about it, but Dean didn’t make a face, studying each drawing intently. He could feel the embarrassment coming from Castiel, but didn’t understand why – sure, some were worked on more than others, but he didn’t see anything wrong with any of them. Castiel looked away anyways.

“Is this me?”

He whipped his head down at what Dean was looking at and paled at the picture. It was definitely him with various angles of his face drawn, and one of him full body in plaid and jeans leaning casually against a doorframe. He couldn’t remember sketching Dean, and the date written on the corner told him that this was before he was selected as the spokes-model.

“Uh.” His brain short-circuited and his mortified face answered Dean.

He’d never seen the designer looking so humiliated before, and pointing out the drawings to get that reaction was not his intention. In all honesty, Dean was intrigued that he had the attention and interest of the man.

His hand came up to Castiel’s shoulder. “Cas, it’s fine. It’s actually really nice. Though I don’t think my jawline is as nice as you’ve drawn.”

Castiel was glad he could find some humour. “This is … embarrassing. I didn’t even realize.”

“That you were drawing me?” He looked at him with a surprised expression.

“Sometimes my hand just has a mind of its own. I end up drawing without realizing it.” Castiel shrugged it off as best he could.

Dean looked at the drawing again and his eyes went to the date. “I know that shirt. This was the day I thought I botched your casting. We saw each other later that day. Here, as a matter of fact. Man, I thought you hated me.”

He began to recollect the memory – he was sketching and chatting with Hannah at the time. He was horrified at the prospect of running into the man after what happened earlier that day.

“Hated you?” He realized just what Dean said and his expression softened. “Why would I hate you?”

Dean took a deep breath and scratched his neck. “At the casting, you wouldn’t even look at me. Then later when we were both here, we just happened to make eye contact, and you literally ducked away as if you were disgusted by my eating a sandwich.”

Castiel groaned. “I am so sorry. I didn’t mean for you to interpret it that way. I was afraid you were going to talk to me.”

It was Dean’s turn to be confused, but he continued, “I’m legally not allowed to talk to the models I’ve hired until the contract has been sent out to their respective modelling agencies. Something about favouritism or bias or something.”

“Oh!”

“And I’m sorry about the casting. I won’t make any excuses for my behaviour,” he apologized again.

“It’s okay.” Dean smiled softly. “I’ve been to worse.”

A little while later Dean yawned and Castiel called it a night. He thanked the model for his unwavering patience with all that went on that day and told him to get some rest, for the next day would be brutal. He simply smiled and said to the designer, “Bring it on.”


	9. Chapter 9

Dean woke up well rested and thinking about a certain designer. His thoughts somehow took an inappropriate turn when he noticed the little problem in his pants. Using a cold shower to remedy himself, he got ready for the day and headed over to the studio, but the thoughts about Castiel actually being a nice guy and someone he could see himself being friends with never left his brain. He didn’t even realize he spent most of his morning thinking about the designer. Stepping through the doors he saw the dizzying action of everyone moving their toiles carefully to the room where he would be fitted.

“Out of the way, pretty boy.” Gabriel whizzed past him with a steamer.

Dean felt a hand on his upper arm and turned to see it was Ellen. With surprising strength she pulled him to the fitting room where Castiel and Anna were waiting.

“Dean.” Castiel’s eyes brightened when he saw him. “Good morning.”

“This is …” Dean moved out of the way. “Intense for a first fitting.”

“Yeah, Ellen gets them very riled up.” Castiel laughed casually, his smile making Dean’s knees just a little weak.

The inappropriate thoughts that sneaked into his head early that morning came back at full force and he nervously laughed.

“Ready,” Ellen called out from the other side of the room.

Castiel gave a thumbs up and looked at him. “Okay, Dean, if you don’t mind taking your clothes off.”

“Should buy me dinner first,” Dean blurted out, leading him to turn red, but Castiel just rolled his eyes playfully at the man.

The fitting went relatively well – he would put on something, get pinned and marked, and then would carefully take it off. It was hard to say how long each garment took, especially since each one was so different. There wasn’t even a mirror to look at so he spent most of his time just staring at random spots on the room. Then Castiel started to get involved and it all went downhill from there. He was in Dean’s personal space, playing with the fabric and explaining how he wanted the fit. It wasn’t even as if it was sexual whatsoever – Castiel was just doing his job, even if his hands were all over his body.

Castiel was quickly toeing the line between professional and inappropriate. Maybe his hands _were_ lingering a little longer than he was supposed to, and maybe he did stare when Dean took off his shirt, revealing a fit and toned body. No one seemed to notice though, since this was all under the pretence of his very important, much anticipated, had-to-be-perfect, first menswear line.

Desperately trying to think unsexy thoughts, Dean began to realize he was incredibly attracted to the designer. This moment of clarity hit him like a ton of bricks and it was somehow enough to distract him from the fact that Castiel’s face was just inches away from his crotch, his hands running up Dean’s inner thigh to fit the inseam. He internally thanked Raf for his training on keeping his composure because it was an absolute miracle that he was not popping a boner in front of the man who was technically his boss.

Eventually, the fitting came to an end and he could let out a very relieved sigh. He let Castiel and Anna know that he was going for a lunch break, and even though Anna already ordered food, he rushed out of the building. Castiel thought it odd, but went on with discussing the line with Ellen.

Standing in the corner watching the entire thing unfold was Gabriel. The moment Dean was in Castiel’s presence, he could feel the tension. Everyone was too busy worrying about whether or not Castiel liked what he or she created, but he knew his brother better than anyone.

“ _This is going to be fun,”_ Gabriel thought to himself.

A few blocks down Dean received a text from Meg. And then another from Charlie. And then Sam. And then ten more from other people. And then twenty. Not really understanding what was going on, he quickly skimmed over what Meg sent. Apparently, the press release had just been sent out announcing his appointment as the first spokes-model for the CSTL NVK menswear line. Though most of the world couldn’t care less, it was the fashion industry that found this to be the most surprising of news. His phone began to ring with Sam being the one that was calling.

“Dude, you didn’t tell me it was Castiel Novak you were modelling for,” Sam spoke excitedly. “Did you know that Kevin Tran works there?”

He laughed. “Yeah, I know, and NDA remember? How’d you even become a lawyer forgetting things like that?”

“Shut up, Dean.” Sam laughed. “I’m just excited for you. This is big!”

“It’s only for the season.” He grabbed his to-go bag and walked out of the burger joint he was in. “Anyways, I’ll talk to you later. Gotta head back to work.”

As soon as he ended that call, another came through, this time from Charlie. Unlike Sam, her greeting was her screaming into the phone.

“Ow.”

She began speaking a hundred words a minute with him only catching a few words here and there. “Charlie, calm down. It’s not like I’m getting married.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me it’s Castiel that you interviewed for!” She gleefully squealed. “Wait, are you going to the J.Crew event tonight?”

He had forgotten about it. “Uh, yeah.”

“Oh my god, with Castiel?”

“Yeah.”

“You have to introduce me.”

“You’re going?”

“Duh! Anyone who’s anyone is going to be there. And now that you’re going, it’s going to be insanity! Everyone’s going to want to get to know the man who is the face of CSTL NVK,” she calmed herself down a bit. “Naomi might even show up. Anyways, gotta go. I’ll see you tonight!”

The prospect of seeing Naomi there frightened him a bit, but he saved face and continued his way back to the studio. It wasn’t any less chaotic with Anna and Castiel both fielding calls for interviews for extra statements. The only call Castiel did take was from Hannah.

“You’re bringing this … Dean Winchester, right?” Hannah called to confirm. “Because if you do, I get a promotion.”

“Seriously?” He put his phone on speaker as he answered some emails.

“Try Chief Operations Officer.” She stunned him with that revelation. “Mike stepped down and is taking on CFO full time, so there’s a vacancy! With the help of you and your model they might just give it to me.”

“That’s amazing.” He stopped typing and gave her his full attention. “I suppose I’ll see you tonight then!”

“Well, make sure you say hi to Jenna and Millard,” she continued. “And make sure your model says hi to them as well.”

“I will.” He laughed.

“And take pictures!” Hannah said, ending the call.

He imagined the scene – Dean and him together the entire night, pictures being taken of him, with short impromptu interviews being held, and then all of it showing up on fashion blogs the next day. Dean’s life was going to change drastically, for better or worse.

Dean walked in just as he placed his phone down. “This is kind of crazy. My phone won’t stop ringing.”

“Welcome to the world of dodging interviews and efficiently accepting congratulations.” Anna walked past him, dropping some papers on the corner of Castiel’s desk. “I sent you your schedule for the next two weeks. Did you get it?”

Dean scrolled past the growing number of notifications on his phone and found the one entitled “schedule.” He nodded.

“Good. We’re in post-press release now, and everything you say, do, or go to could be scrutinized, so please don’t try to stray too far from the schedule when you’re with Castiel,” she spoke quickly – the phone was ringing again. “Don’t forget your training.”

She made her way out of the office without anything else to say and the lack of any other noise besides Castiel frantically typing on his computer made him feel a little exposed. “So, um, what should I wear tonight?”

He looked up. “Oh, I suppose I didn’t tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

“I had something made for you. I believe Gabriel should be finishing it now,” he spoke with softness in his tone. “You should go try it on, make sure it fits.”

“I’m certain it will.” Dean smiled.

“I’m afraid even I don’t know what he made. It’ll be a surprise for both of us. Anyways, tonight, meet me here at 6:45. We’ll get a car to pick us up and we’ll go in together, take pictures, say hello, et cetera.” He grimaced. “Putting up a united front seems to be more work than it should. I’m sorry about that.”

“I don’t mind. Glad it’s with you.” He smiled at the floor. “I’ll see you tonight.”

He walked out of the office leaving Castiel flustered. Was the model flirting with him?

“Boundaries,” he spoke aloud as a reminder.

The model found his way down to the atelier where Gabriel leaned on the cutting table reading a trashy tabloid magazine. “Ah! Pretty boy! Good! You’re here.”

“Please don’t call me that,” Dean grumbled.

Gabriel ignored his comment, instead pulling out a garment bag from a rack and handing it to him. “Here you go, enjoy!”

He held it expectantly. “I’m not trying it on?”

Gabriel scoffed. “Please. I know it’ll fit, and it’ll fit perfectly. They don’t call me Magic Fingers for nothing.”

Jo passed by suddenly, commenting, “No one calls you that.”

Gabriel made a face at her as she walked away, “Anyways, don’t ruin it, don’t spill anything on it, and for the love of god, don’t sit too long in it. The fabric costs more than what I make here in a month, but then again, maybe Cassie just pays me less.”

“That’s not hard to believe.” Dean tried to get a peek inside the darkened bag, but it was difficult. “Please tell me it’s nothing too out-there.”

“Come on.” Gabriel scoffed again. “Who do you take me for? I am the pinnacle of class and upper class taste.”

Somehow Kevin walked behind them, commenting, “No, you’re not.”

Gabriel glared at him, “It’s a suit. It’s made of blue worsted cashmere.”

“O-okay,” Dean draped it over his arms, not knowing what any of that meant. “Thanks, Gabriel.”

 

  

 

True to his word, the suit did fit perfectly and he never realized what a perfectly tailored suit could do for his figure. He hated admitting it, but Gabriel was a miracle worker when it came to fit. He wasn’t quite sure if wearing a tie made it too formal, so he opted out, deciding instead to fit a pocket square inside the breast pocket, which was where he found a pack of condoms hidden inside. Not really understanding what Gabriel was insinuating he mentally made a note to punch him the next time he saw him as he tossed it in his bedside drawer. Heading out he made another mental note to be incredibly careful with how he acted. He made it to CSTL’s with time to spare and knocked on his office door.

“Come in,” he heard from the other side.

Castiel had to hand it to Gabriel, for Dean looked absolutely incredible. He cursed himself for handing that task to his brother. The suit fit in all the right places, except for one little thing…

“The collar is just a tad …” Facing Dean, he wrapped his arms around the man, his hands coming up to the back of his neck in order to fix the flipped collar. He cleared his throat. “There.”

Dean looked down at the floor shyly, feeling his face heating. “Thanks.”

Castiel cleared his throat. “Well, shall we?”

“Lead on.”

The ride was quiet, as expected for two men who realized there was something subtly changing between them. Castiel cursed himself for not creating stronger walls, and Dean punched himself for liking the designer just a little too much. Unlike movie premieres, the fanfare was kept to a minimum, with the occasional paparazzi and media outlet taking the odd photo here and there. This wasn’t the usual showing that the brand did during fashion week, but more of a private industry affair and invitation only.

There was no big reveal of the capsule collection – the models were already on display in the centre of the room standing on giant white boxes of different heights. The clothes were more modern than the usual style and everyone noticed. Castiel watched as Naomi made her judgements. When other designers and other industry professionals began to take note of Castiel and Dean, they slowly started to congregate towards them. Charlie was the only one brave enough to say hi first, and she did so by tackling Dean from behind, wrapping her arms around his neck and shoulders.

“Dean, there seems to be a woman dangling from your neck,” Castiel commented dryly.

Dean laughed as she got off and gave him a side hug. “Cas, this is Charlie. Charlie, this is Castiel. Charlie’s a photographer and Castiel, well, you know who he is.”

She pulled Castiel in for an unexpected hug. “I thought you’d be shorter!”

Dean choked out a laugh. “Charles.”

“What!?” Charlie looked at him with an amused smile. “It’s really nice to meet you, honestly. I’m a big fan of your clothes, and your work before you became a designer.”

“My accounting?” He looked at her, confused.

“No, silly, the photography!” As soon as she said that, he went wide-eyed as Dean asked, “You did photography?”

“How do you know about that?” He looked around, hoping no one would hear. “No one knows about that.”

Dean intervened, “I should correct my introduction. Meet Charlie, photographer and master hacker. She can crack anything and find anything. Hey.” He turned towards Her. “You should meet this guy named Ash …”

Castiel looked flustered so she calmed him down a bit. “No worries, I’m not going to tell anyone. I’m just saying it’s really good. Anyways, I see alcohol, so that’s where I’m headed.”

“I’ll join you. Want anything, Cas?” Dean asked.

“Whatever you’re having.”

As he walked away, Balthazar quickly took his place, edging out others who wanted to talk to Castiel about Dean.

“Ah, Cassie, I see you’re flashing the new boy-toy,” Balthazar greeted him. “Nice choice, by the way. I see that Mr. Too Plain is a hit.”

“Yes,” he agreed.

“He does look mighty fine in that suit.” Balthazar whistled lowly. “Fits in _all_ the right places if you know what I mean.”

Castiel glared at him. “Are you seriously just going to ogle him all night?”

“Everyone else is.” Balthazar looked around.

It was true – most people who weren’t looking at the capsule collection were looking at Dean. He watched as people tried to either congratulate him or ask him questions as he waited for his drinks. He was smiling, being attentive to each person, and Castiel could see that the PR training paid off. With the well-tailored suit he looked more like the CEO of a powerful company than a model he hired. Honestly, he was the kind of person that Castiel would have approached at a bar – should he ever go to bars – and try and get his number. Eventually, he made his way back to Castiel, though it took a while before they could say anything to each other. They stood beside each other as pictures were taken and Naomi even came over to commend Castiel’s bold decision.

There was a bit of a break where Hannah found Castiel. After a kiss on the cheek, she nudged him and Dean over to Jenna and Millard. Dean could spot Jenna’s thick-rimmed glasses from a mile away, but remembered to compliment her on the new collection, also jokingly apologizing for taking some of the spotlight away from it. She replied that any publicity was good publicity for the both of them.

Excusing themselves in order to refresh their drinks, Dean spotted some faces he’d rather not have seen. “Gross, Dick Roman and Crowley. Ten and eleven o’clock.”

Saying it out loud he realized it might have been inappropriate if Castiel liked the two, but he just leaned over. “Hopefully they won’t come over.”

“They’re still feuding, right?” Dean downed his whiskey. “I can’t believe they can stand to be in this room together.”

They watched as Dick spoke to his rival Naomi, and Crowley examined the collection with a disgusted expression on his face. He still plastered on a fake smile and made insincere but positive comments to Jenna. The conversation they were having must have turned to Castiel and Dean, for Crowley turned around and looked at the both of them. Soon enough he began to walk towards them.

“I’m going to need another.” Dean turned towards the bartender. “Make it a double.”

“Make that two,” Castiel piped in.

“Ah, squirrel.” The smarmy British accent caught them both by surprise. “Working with Novak, I see? A model’s gotta work somewhere, I guess, even if it means working for _him_. Who knew you’d sink so low.”

Dean clenched his fists, but kept a calm expression and didn’t reply.

“Anyways, if you’ll excuse me, I have a little Hell to raise.” Crowley grabbed Dean and Castiel’s drinks from the bartender and was off.

Dean turned around, signalling for another drink, “What is wrong with that guy?”

“Many things,” Castiel responded quickly. “But I was surprised he took it out on you. I thought he might come at me.”

“You? Why?” Dean looked at him, taking his drink from the bar.

“We’ve always been in some sort of competition, and I’ve always beat him at winning fashion awards. I’m also on Naomi’s good side,” he explained. “Why do you think he’s never featured in F?”

“Good point.” Dean tipped his glass at that. “I naively took a job with him. Never again.”

“And how did that go?”

“Well, let’s just say as a result of that job, he calls me squirrel.” He knocked that drink back. “Thank god for open bars.”

Castiel smirked, raising his glass. “To never working for Crowley ever again.”

“Nah, to us.” Dean clinked his glass.

The rest of the night was spent taking more photographs, schmoozing with other designers and media alike, and more drinking. It got to the point where it was harder for Dean to control the words that were coming out of his mouth, and for Castiel to keep his patience with hearing “congratulations” for the millionth time. Left to their own drunken devices they knew they would make poor decisions so they took it as their cue to leave, even if they couldn’t remember anything after getting into a taxi.


	10. Chapter 10

The words “mistakes were made” were the first to pop into Dean’s head. He wished he hadn’t drank so much, but that thought came second to the physical sensation of someone’s arm across his midsection. Not wanting to open his eyes just yet – he knew it was bright in the room, and adding that to his hangover was not going to make it pleasant. He tried to recollect who he brought home until he realized that the sheets he was sleeping on weren’t the usual flannel ones he had. Blearily opening his eyes, he looked over and saw the dark mane of hair and an all too solid body just inches away from him. His eyes opened widely in shock, sunlight and hangover completely disregarded.

“Oh, shit,” he said a little too loudly, startling Castiel awake. “Oh, fuck.”

Castiel blinked a few times to register the scene in front of him, but when his eyes also widened in shock, it only showed Dean how incredibly blue they were. That wasn’t something he should have been thinking that particular moment, but he couldn’t help himself.

“Please tell me,” Castiel croaked out hoarsely. “Please tell me we didn’t.”

Dean looked under the covers quickly and, voilà, he had his shirt and boxer briefs on! “Nothing happened.”

Dean began to laugh. “What the fuck.”

He began to laugh as well. “What happened?”

“I can’t remember,” Dean groaned. “We drank … a lot.”

Castiel slowly began getting out of bed. “Are you sure we didn’t do anything?”

“Not really.” Dean rubbed his eyes. “But you have a girlfriend, so I honestly doubt that anything happened.”

Castiel was sitting on the edge of his bed when he turned around to look at him. “I don’t have a girlfriend. You have a girlfriend. Charlie, right?”

“No! She’s a lesbian,” Dean exclaimed. “But what about that … uh … woman that kinda forced us to talk to Jenna and Millard? That one? I mean, I saw you two talking in the café the one time.”

“Hannah? Oh, no, she’s not.” Castiel shook his head. “I’m very much into men.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” Castiel eked out, walking towards what Dean assumed was his bathroom.

He took his sweet time getting his butt out of Castiel’s very comfortable bed. He wanted to close his eyes and continue sleeping, but this whole situation at hand was both awkward and inappropriate. Oh, what Rafael would say. Dean walked around the bedroom wondering where his suit was. Castiel eventually came out of the bathroom clean-shaven and smelling like mint.

“Have you seen my suit?” Dean scratched his head.

Something must have lit up in Castiel’s head, for he walked directly to his walk-in closet and pulled out Dean’s neatly hanged suit. “I vaguely remember you taking it off and hanging it before you, uh, got in my bed, citing Gabriel killing you for wrinkling it.”

“Ah.” Dean swallowed the lump in his throat and took the suit from him – they both stood in front of each other in some state of undress. “Well, this is awkward.”

“No kidding.”

“Should we just not talk about it and never mention this to Rafael?”

“That’s a good plan.” Castiel looked around for a moment before speaking. “Would you like to join me for breakfast?”

He was in the process of putting on his pants. “I don’t know. Is that a good idea?”

He considered the implications of it. “You’re right, probably not. At least let me call you a cab?”

Dean nodded. “Yeah, I have no idea where in the city I am. God, we were so drunk I don’t even remember how we got here.”

He draped the blazer over his arms and followed Castiel out of his bedroom. He had to stop himself from whistling as soon he was in the open concept living room/kitchen. With the floor to ceiling windows, the modern kitchen, and the giant TV, he had to comment.

“Moderately sized apartment, huh?” He teased. “If this is moderate, then I live in a closet.”

Castiel rolled his eyes playfully and called for a taxi. It would get to his place in fifteen minutes, so they had to make the least awkward conversation as possible in that time. Thankfully, accepting coffee and drinking it took up five of those minutes. Castiel used the silence to check his phone for updates. Anna had apparently sent him a link to F Magazine’s online blog. He cringed when the article popped up and Dean noticed the expression.

“Look.” Castiel gave his phone to him and he cringed as well. “Who’s writing these headlines? Seriously? ‘A Win(chester) for CSTL NVK’?”

Dean scanned through the article and went bug eyed at the pictures embedded. The first two were fine, and he at least remembered having them taken. They showed the two standing side-by-side, shoulder-to-shoulder, smiling slightly at the camera. The next few photos that proceeded were of them smiling widely with drinks in their hands, this time angling their bodies together. The last few were of him wildly laughing at something Castiel must have said, for his hand was clutching Castiel’s shoulder as Castiel laughed. They were standing way too close to each other for it to be labelled as a professional relationship.

“Christ.” He handed the phone back, unable to scroll through the rest of it. “Rafael is going to kill us. We look like a couple.”

“Maybe.” He took a look at the pictures. “But by the time Monday rolls around, it’ll give him enough time to simmer down.”

A text notification alerted the two that the cab was downstairs waiting. Castiel walked him out.

“I guess I’ll see you Monday?”

“Monday,” Castiel confirmed with a forced smile.

He closed the door softly and let out a sigh when he heard the elevator door ding. Of all the ways the evening could have possibly ended, seeing Dean in his bed was not one of them. He wasn’t completely opposed to the idea of pursuing something knowing that he was single, but that was veering towards getting reprimanded and possibly shunned by the fashion industry. Besides, Castiel had his boundaries to keep … right?

Dean couldn’t return to his “normal-sized” apartment. He couldn’t be in a place where he was alone to think, especially thoughts that bordered on obscene. Those thoughts could easily turn into actions, and he wasn’t sure if he was ready to cross that line. Besides, Castiel wasn’t interested, as he thanked the fact that they _didn’t_ sleep together. Or, he supposed, it may be the fact they were working together and any whisper of being in a relationship would cause mayhem with the press.

“Okay, shut up,” he spoke to himself as he rang Sam’s buzzer.

“Yeah?” Sam’s tone came across as someone that just woke up.

“Let me in.”

The door clicked and he made his way up and inside Sam’s apartment where he found his brother leaning like a zombie against the counter basically inhaling his coffee.

“Nice suit.” Sam dryly looked at his brother when he was sufficiently caffeinated.

Dean didn’t even know how to reply. One way or another his lawyer of a brother was going to find about the previous night. Was it better just to tell him what happened? He almost had to laugh at his own stupid thoughts. Instead, he nervously laughed in response to Sam.

“So how did last night go?” Sam looked at him funnily.

“Uh, good. Met lots of people and tried to avoid Crowley. Same old, same old. It was all good.” He didn’t look him in the eye.

“And how was Castiel?”

“Good, good.” He cleared his throat. “Yeah, he was good.”

“And the event?”

“Good.”

“Really?” Sam tried to hold it together as he grabbed his phone from behind him, showing Dean the picture. “The number of times you said it was good makes me wonder if it was, in fact, great.”

The picture was of Dean pressed up together whispering into Castiel’s ear as Castiel smiled at the ground. He could see that his hand was pressed up against the designer’s back in such a tender way.

“Where did you get this?” He gaped, completely blind to his brother laughing hysterically.

“Charlie,” he managed to choke out amongst the laughter, and when it died down, he explained. “She saved your drunk ass, you know. She said every time you did something like this and a photographer tried to take a pic, she blocked the shot. This is the only one that she said was, and I quote ‘boyfriends who forget they’re at a public event.’”

“I’m in shit.” Dean covered his eyes and put the phone down.

“Maybe,” Sam stretched it out. “It’s not like anything happened though, right?”

Dean looked up at him, wearing his heart on his sleeve and leaving no expression unexpressed.

“Oh, shit.” Sam put his coffee down. “What happened? Don’t tell me you…”

“Nothing happened.” He quickly got defensive. “At least, I think nothing happened. I woke up beside him in his bed.”

“Did he get you drunk to take advantage of you?” Sam took on his lawyer persona.

“Sam, no!”

“I think we need to add an amendment to the contract. Something along the lines of not overstepping personal boundaries, or perhaps a clause that a car sends you straight home, or …”

“Stop.” Dean shut him up. “I don’t need that.”

Sam observed his brother. “You don’t need that, or you don’t want that?”

“Hey! Stop going all lawyer-y on me.” He pointed his finger at him.

“Well, which is it?”

He hesitated, giving Sam room to jump in again. “Oh god, you like him. You _like_ him.”

“Shut up,” he breathed out but Sam just glared. “Alright! Maybe I do find him … easy on the eyes.”

“Okay.” Sam considered that a moment before crossing his arms and nodding. “Well, legally, there’s nothing in the contract that says you can’t date him before or after your role ends. Although, you might toe the line with the fact that it says you cannot, in no circumstance, tarnish the brand in any way.”

“How would I be tarnishing the brand?”

“Well, let’s say you start dating him. Press will eat it up thinking that Castiel obviously chose you to be the first spokes-model because you’re his boyfriend. For an industry that relies on ass-kissing to get anywhere, they prefer it to be more metaphorical than literal,” he rattled off. “Also, CSTL NVK is a brand that relies on its brand being clean and out of the tabloids and gossip fashion blogs. If they find anything dirty, or bordering on something they can even spin, they’ll take it and run with it.”

“So what should I do?”

“Talk to him,” he said, as if it were easier said than done. “See where he’s at. Maybe he likes you, too. I mean, he did let you sleep in his bed. With him. Probably all snuggled up and …”

“Shut your face.”

“Just helping my older brother out!” Sam smiled widely, taking one last gulp of coffee.

Castiel, just a little while away, got off the phone with Hannah with the pretence of asking how the event went. She announced the positive things she was hearing about the COO job, and figured out what he really wanted to know. She explained that though she only caught glimpses of them at random moments, it looked as if they were having fun. From her point of view, nothing looked too out of the ordinary, especially since towards the end of the actual event Dick Roman and Crowley almost got into a fight. She noted that open bars were no longer going to be a thing.

He couldn’t quite rest easy not knowing what happened from getting into that cab to waking up with the beautiful model right beside him. Thankfully, he handled his alcohol a bit better than Dean, and his memory was patchy versus Dean’s complete amnesia. Either way they couldn’t go back to whatever sense of decorum they previously had.

Monday was going to be awkward.


	11. Chapter 11

It was awkward but at least Rafael had the day off.

Dean and Castiel stole glances at each other every time they were in the same room together. There were only a select few who seemed to notice something out of the ordinary – mainly Anna, Gabriel, and Ellen. Everyone else was too busy working on finishing their garments for the upcoming photo shoot. When Dean was called elsewhere for interviews and Anna could speak to Castiel, she confronted him about their strange behaviour, citing that instead of being chummy like they usually were around each other, they were acting like ten year olds with elementary school crushes. The expression he gave her only made her gasp.

“I knew it!” She almost had to take a step back, but she was smiling. “I knew there was something going on.”

“What?” He looked at her strangely. “What do you mean?”

She looked away, prattling on, “Gabriel said something was going on and I knew you’d fall so fast for Dean. Was this because of the casting?”

“No, I don’t know.” He looked down at his hands.

“Seriously, Castiel.” She raised his chin and looked him in the eyes. “Why did you choose him? What changed your mind? I know it wasn’t some gut feeling.”

“But maybe it was.” He turned away, walking towards the window.

“Cas.”

She was right. He fell so fast for Dean and he didn’t even mean to. He wanted to feel needed and appreciated by someone again. He wanted to feel loved by someone who would love him back.

“Maybe it was the silly face he made. He was expressing … joy.” He sighed. “And I missed having that. I missed that feeling, and maybe I thought he could help.”

She placed her hand on his shoulder. “I know your last breakup was hard. I get it. You know what I miss? Walking down a runway.”

He tilted his head at this information and she continued, “I miss feeling powerful and independent and making heads turn. I hate people pitying me every single time they see me. So if Dean makes you feel happy, joy, whatever, then go for it. Forget what I said about boundaries. Talk to him.”

 

  

 

Dean was called back into Castiel’s office for an emergency fitting. The bias on one of the jackets had slightly warped – the material wasn’t left to hang when it was first brought in and without him being readily available, it could have been a costly mistake. Castiel personally oversaw the alterations as his brother did the tailoring.

When Dean arrived, something subtly changed in his personality. He was more open and warm towards Castiel, unlike their awkward encounters early that morning. Unbeknownst to the designer, he had his own conversation with his own redhead friend. Spurred by a question about the previous night’s events from an interviewer, he phoned up Charlie. She told him about the night, how she’d never seen the two so utterly engaged in each other, sober or otherwise. She swore on all that was sacred to her that she assumed they were already secretly in a relationship. When he told her they weren’t, she just swore at him wondering why he was waiting, and why he was passing up on an opportunity to be happy. He defected to explaining that Castiel, award winning designer and Parsons alum, wouldn’t want to be with him, whose only achievement was getting his GED. She countered with threatening to punch him in the face, for even she knew that Castiel didn’t care about that. Ironically, in an industry where appearance mattered almost more than anything, it was Dean’s personality that captured Castiel.

They needed to talk, and they knew they needed to talk, but first, the fitting. Putting the jacket on he could feel it felt wonky. Everyone’s faces also told him the same, each with their own expression of “how could this happen?” or “who’s the idiot that didn’t hang the fabric?”

(Gabriel was that idiot.)

At Castiel’s suggestions, Gabriel pinned, tucked, and pressed to get everything to look better. Dean watched Castiel the entire time, and he could feel the model’s eyes on him. It took about a half an hour, but they found a way to work around the warping. Gabe helped him out of the jacket and carefully carried it to a table to make some more markings. He walked towards Castiel as soon as he could.

“Hey, we have to talk,” were the first words out of his mouth.

But before Castiel could respond Gabriel came up from behind, draping an arm on their shoulders and made some room for himself in the middle. “So, did you use it, Dean?”

“Use what?” He looked at the man, unsure of what he was referring to.

“Come on, you know, the little package I slipped in your pocket in the suit?” He winked. “Cassie looks mighty happy.”

He turned beet red while Castiel looked at him with confused eyes. “What on Earth are you talking about?”

“Oh.” Gabriel backed away with his hands up defensively. “Never mind! The sexual tension has yet to be resolved. Good to know.”

He backed away from the two and they each flushed with embarrassment.

“Gabriel, out.”

“Going.” He scurried away.

“So.”

“So.” Dean scratched his neck and looked down at the floor. “I think I’ll just say it and then it’ll be done.”

“Okay?” His stomach nervously twitched.

Dean confidently looked him in those bright blue eyes. “I like you, a lot. Probably more than I should, and it’d be really nice if you would join me for dinner tonight.”

Castiel just stared, as he couldn’t quite believe what he was saying for it was almost exactly what he was going to say. Dean took the pause and wide eyes as rejection.

“I mean, uh, it’s totally fine, it’s dumb, forget it.” He turned away, but Castiel grabbed his hand.

“I didn’t say no,” he spoke softly. “You just caught me off guard. I like you too much to say no.”

Dean began to laugh. “You do?”

“Yes.”

 

  

 

Since they stayed pretty late at the studio, they agreed they should just go straight to dinner, after all, why wait? When Castiel asked what he preferred, Dean suggested one of his favourite burger joints. He commented that Dean should not be able to eat burgers and still look that good. He just laughed saying he could never give it up.

In that moment on their date they weren’t designer and model, or boss and employee – they were just Dean and Castiel. They were getting to know each other more personally without the guise of working together to screw things up. It didn’t feel awkward or weird and that itself felt strange for the two. They ended their date with a little walk that happened to be on the route to Castiel’s place.

“So this is what it looks like sober.” Dean craned his neck at the skyscraper. “It’s nice.”

“It’s alright.” Castiel shrugged. “Too much room. I think I’d prefer the comforts of your aforementioned shoebox of an apartment.”

“Hey.” Dean nudged him, smiling. “It’s a closet.”

“Would you like to come up for a drink?” Castiel bravely asked.

“Sure.”

The elevator ride up to his apartment was uneventful for they were almost too nervous to speak as all pretence of sex was thrown out the proverbial window. When they did enter the designer’s apartment, Dean marvelled again at the space, walking towards the windows.

“You have such a perfect view,” he admired. “You basically live in the clouds.”

Castiel came up from behind with two glasses. Dean wandered around, looking at the pictures on his mantle. He spotted one of Castiel carrying Anna bridal style and gazed at it long enough for the designer to notice.

“That was at a shoot for F’s 75th issue,” he recounted the memory as if it were yesterday. “She literally just jumped into my arms without any warning.”

“You still look great. I hope they print this one.” He moved towards the couch, sitting down. “Can I ask you a question?”

“You just did.” He tipped his glass.

“Smart ass.” Dean smiled, placing his empty glass on the coffee table. “But seriously, why do you always wear a suit to work every day?”

Castiel planted his cute butt down beside him. “Mainly so I don’t have to choose an outfit. Though it was really Rafael’s idea. He said that if I have an element that is recognizable and consistent, I’d be more … iconic. Does that make any sense?”

“Yeah, I get it.” Dean looked at him darkly, his hands going up to Cas’ tie. “But you know you wear the tie backwards half the time.”

Castiel let him undo the tie as he watched his expression change to unbridled want. When the tie finally slipped off, he put his glass down on the table and moved over to Dean, tenderly cupping the model’s face in his as he pulled him close and pressed a kiss to his lips. Dean kissed back deeper, opening his mouth to let Castiel’s tongue explore. With their lips still locked, Castiel moved on top of Dean, straddling him. He could feel Dean unbuttoning his shirt, his hands travelling over his bare skin, caressing every inch.

“Bed,” Dean breathlessly spoke. “Now.”

He didn’t even give Castiel a chance to get up before he stood, carrying him as they continued making out. With Castiel’s body pressed tightly against his and his legs wrapped around him, Dean could feel that he was hard – which only turned him on more. In the bedroom, Dean gently laid him down on his back, taking care to unbutton his white shirt. He hurriedly took his t-shirt off and climbed on top of him, kissing his way up his toned, tan body. He thought about what he needed – lube and a condom. For some ungodly reason, he thought about the little silver package left by Gabriel and he stopped sucking on the spot on Castiel’s neck that made him moan.

“What’s wrong?” Castiel, his hair already absolutely wrecked and his eyes dark with lust, looked at him.

“I just thought about your brother,” he blurted out but explained to an incredibly confused Castiel. “The condom in my pocket. Never mind.”

He propped himself up, using Dean’s body as support. “If he ever heard you talking about him in bed, he would never let you forget it.”

“So what you’re saying is.” Dean kissed him. “Less talking, more kissing.”

He responded to that idea enthusiastically, sliding his tongue into Dean’s mouth. In the flurry of movement, pants, socks, and underwear came off, leaving the two nude and in dire need of friction. Castiel got the upper hand, pinning Dean down. Following the trail down to his hip-bone, he peppered the model with compliments, making him blush. He sucked in a breath and forced himself not to knee Castiel in the face when the designer began licking the head of his cock, sucking slowly on the tip.

“Shit.” His hands naturally went to Castiel’s hair and his fingers combed through. “Just like that.”

“Look at how much you’re dripping.” He licked the underside from base to tip, causing Dean to shiver. “You want this so much.”

“God, yes,” Dean moaned.

He tightened his hold on the bed sheets when Castiel took him all in, groaning as he gently dragged just the bit of teeth upwards. His legs trembled, but Castiel held him still. The designer moaned against Dean’s cock as he fisted his own cock, pumping up and down rhythmically. Dean was so close but he wanted it to last so much longer.

“Cas,” he panted. “Cas, stop.”

Castiel immediately let go with a loud popping noise. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Dean propped himself up and necked Castiel, whispering into his ear. “I just want you to fuck me.”

His eyes widened, but a devilish smile appeared on his lip. Momentarily leaving the bed he grabbed the necessary tools. Castiel took his sweet time with him, eating him out first before stretching him open. Every single moment he would find time to worship the model’s beautiful body. Dean hoped he would be able to return the favour. The designer aligned his cock to Dean’s hole, pushing slightly before going in. Dean groaned with pleasure at the sensation, letting Castiel know that it was more than all right, but he was impatient. With a good grip on Castiel, Dean pulled himself up until he was straddling the man. This one move helped them both find his prostate, and a slew of expletives left his mouth.

“There, there, there,” Dean panted as he moved up and down in time with Castiel’s thrusting.

Daring to touch his own erection he pumped his fist, feeling his knuckles graze on Castiel’s hot and sweaty midsection. Castiel put his hand at the back of Dean’s neck, pulling him in for another deep kiss, but it lasted mere seconds before he found himself spilling all over Castiel, shaking with pleasure at the orgasm. Castiel was not far behind after watching his complete undoing. They collapsed back down, both in states of utter glee and exhaustion.

“I wasn’t one to expect you to bottom,” was the first thing out of Castiel’s mouth.

“Hey, what can I say, I’m a sensitive guy.” Dean put on a satisfied smile, his hands behind his head.

“I’ve noticed.” He smirked, turning over onto his side.

The designer’s smile faded and he just stared at him with a soft look in his eye. The feeling of just being watched was different. Between always being looked at in magazines, shoots, and castings, there was something so singular and absolute about the way the designer was watching him, seeing him, in his most vulnerable state. No one had ever looked at him the way Castiel was. He couldn’t fathom what he must have been thinking.

“Cas?” he tenderly spoke, his hand moving strands of hair out of Castiel’s eyes.

“Your soul is beautiful,” he said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Dean chuckled softly. “As opposed to my ugly mug?”

“I’m serious.” He affectionately placed a kiss on Dean’s left shoulder. “I’ve never met someone like you.”

Dean’s forehead wrinkled at the statement. “I don’t understand. Cas, I’m probably the most boring person in the world. There’s nothing interesting about me. You’ve gotten to know me the last few weeks, so compared to some other people, I ain’t necessarily the cat’s pyjamas.”

“I know that you are a kind man who sacrificed a lot to take care of your brother. I know that you are more attentive to others and their interests than your own, and you pay compliments no matter how small. You are a selfless man, Dean Winchester, and one of the most modest people I’ve ever met.”

Dean took a moment to process what he heard, mumbling, “That is just the post-sex bliss making you say these things.”

When there was no response, he turned his head to see that the man was asleep. He chuckled at the sight and pressed one quick kiss before closing his own eyes.

 

  

 

_“Dean!” A reported shoved a tape recorder in his face. “How does it feel to be dating one of the best designers on this planet?”_

_He deliberated between telling the truth and lying, though he couldn’t remember what he and Cas decided. “Great!”_

_Paparazzi surrounded him. “And what’s it like dating someone so award-winning, featured in F Magazine’s 75th Anniversary issue when all you have is a GED and a few modelling campaigns under your belt?”_

_He began to sweat, the training he did with Rafael completely forgotten. “Uh…”_

_Somehow, one of the reporters morphed into Crowley. “Squirrel, how could you think you could date someone like him? You couldn’t even make it through one of my shoots. He thinks you’re a failure.”_

_He looked behind Crowley to see Castiel gently pressing a kiss to Meg’s cheek. “Give it up, squirrel.”_

_He tried to get away, only to slam straight into an exaggeratedly tall Sam. “Hey! Dean! Guess who I’m dating?”_

_Gabriel popped up from behind, taking Sam’s face in his hands and pressing a wet and dramatic kiss to his lips. “We’re getting married!”_

 

 

 

Dean gasped as he woke up from his nightmare. Castiel was no longer in bed, so he luckily wasn’t there to see him so panicked. He didn’t know where those fears came from and why they decided to manifest right after sleeping with Castiel, but it made him a little on edge. He checked his phone for the time and saw that it was five past eight. Calming his breathing, he stretched his body and got out of the bed. Being sure Castiel wasn’t in his own washroom he toed his way in and splashed some water in his face, taking care to also rid himself of his morning breath. Walking into the kitchen area, he saw Castiel’s back turned away from him.

“Morning.” he turned when he heard Dean’s footsteps. “How’d you sleep?”

“Fine,” he lied.

“Coffee?”

“Please.”

Castiel looked shifty standing by his coffee machine and Dean could sense he wanted to say something. He was secretly hoping he hadn’t talked in his sleep and this was what he wanted to talk about.

“Cas, spit it out.” Dean sighed, bracing himself for whatever was to come.

He turned around. “We can’t tell anyone about this.”

He shrugged, though internally breathed a sigh of relief. “I know.”

“You know? What do you mean?”

“I thought about it, about us, before I proposed this.” He made a gesturing motion. “And how that would look to the press. It wouldn’t be good and Rafael would have our heads, so I can keep this a secret if you still want us to be … us.”

“I do.” He gave a shy expression. “I’m glad you thought about it. I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about this. It’s not something I’ve ever asked of anyone.”

“Like you said, I like you too much to say no.” Dean smiled with a dumb happy look on his face.

Castiel handed him his coffee. “We won’t have to hide it for too long since the contract is ending soon.”

Dean squinted his eyes ever so slightly, but Castiel caught it, his own eyes widening. “What I mean to say is that after the contract is over, we can be open to the press about it if you want … I didn’t mean to imply that I choose random models and then sleep with them and then end it once their contract is over.”

He softened his look and placed a reassuring hand on top of Cas’. “It’s all good. If anyone asks, we’ll just say no, we’re not dating. So what’s on the schedule?”

Castiel relayed his schedule to him. The majority of the day he’d spend at the women’s line photo shoot. The rest of it would be spent in meetings. The rest of his week was also quite busy, with location scouting for the fashion shows, a meeting with Naomi, and then a personal fitting overseas with a woman whom he described as being so important that she may as well be God’s sister. Feeling the stressful vibes coming off, Dean asked if he could help him in any way to lessen the load. The designer jokingly replied he’d need an unpaid intern for the photo shoot to help them bring stuff over and back to the photo studio since Anna couldn’t be there, but thanked him instead for the concern. A little while later, Castiel left for work giving Dean a chance to make one phone call.


	12. Chapter 12

“Whoa.” Sam looked around the studio. “This is a lot bigger than I imagined. And brighter.”

“What, do you think they work in a dark basement or something?” Dean scoffed at him. “Come on.”

He watched as Castiel hung some of the garments on a rack that would be transferred to the shoot and called out his name. His eyes darted between the two and before he could open his mouth, Dean spoke.

“I brought help!” He announced. “This is my brother, Sam. Sam, this is Castiel.”

“You brought …” Castiel smiled widely at him. “I was kidding.”

“No you weren’t.” He shook his head, giving a knowing smirk to Cas. “Anyways, he’s bored on his stay-cation, so let’s put him to work. It’ll be fun!”

Cas shrugged and graciously accepted their help. At the photo shoot, there was only one model and she was getting her hair and makeup done when the three of them walked in.

“Finally! Did you stop and get coffee or something?” Gabriel rushed to his brother’s side. “Did you read my text?”

“No.” Castiel pulled out his phone. “What’s happening?”

“Photographer got into a car accident. He’s in the hospital.” He shook his head. “I called in a replacement, but I don’t know if you know her or her work or …”

“Castiel!” Charlie’s distinctive voice rose above the music and chatter and he turned around to see her walking over.

“Charlie.” He smiled politely. “I’m glad you’re here. I realize this is a little unconventional and last-minute.”

“Say no more,” she placated him. “I should be thanking you for the opportunity. Let me just get set up.”

Dean and Sam eventually appeared, rolling the clothing rack carefully over to the makeshift fitting room area. When the two spotted Charlie, they immediately went over to her. Gabriel took notice of the tall man and nudged his brother.

“Who’s that?” He leered.

“Dean’s brother,” he responded absentmindedly, going over the record of accessories they had brought over.

He quirked his eyebrow. “You don’t say …”

“Ready when you are, boss!” Charlie yelled.

“Right.” He went over to the model. “Ready, Jessica?”

Jessica, the bright blonde, blue eyed model, stepped into the photo shoot area, and Sam couldn’t help but notice the beautiful tall woman that filled the space. Dean had to pull him away so that Charlie could do her job, but he was absolutely mesmerized. Sam was about to approach her when they were seemingly done taking photos, when she smiled at him and walked straight to the dressing room to do a quick change into a second outfit. After those outfit pictures were done, she continued the cycle of photos, changing, touch ups, and more photos.

“Don’t they usually hire more models?” Sam asked during one of the changing breaks. “So they don’t have to change so much?”

“Not for the press kits,” Dean explained. “It’s just one model for consistency. It’s also easier to keep track of models who may want to spill the beans on upcoming collections.”

“She doesn’t have to sign a NDA?” Sam watched as she returned to the shoot.

“Nope, some designers see it as a waste of time since the collection is gonna debut soon anyways.” He shrugged. “Most models know to keep their mouths shut. Jessica’s one of them. She’s a pro.”

“Wait, you know her?” He looked at his brother.

“Yeah, we worked together a couple of times. She’s nice and totally out of your league.” He laughed at him.

“You know who’s not out of your league?” Gabriel popped up out of nowhere, introducing himself to Sam. “Gabriel, at your service.”

He shook the hand that he offered. “Nice to meet you.”

“I am going to walk away now.” Dean turned on his heel and walked towards Castiel. “You look nervous.”

“I’m having bad luck with people not showing up or getting into accidents.” He drummed his fingers on his chin. “I’m worried about next week’s photo shoot. As important as this one is, yours is, dare I say, more important. We have two weeks to release these photos, but we only have two days to release yours. The fashion media are hounding at me for pictures of you.”

“They’ll get ‘em.” He put a reassuring hand on his arm. “And as for people not showing up you could always get Charlie on standby, and you know that I’ll be here – like you said, I’m more important.”

Castiel laughed. “Wow, maybe I should take back that modesty comment I made last night.”

Dean was so tempted to kiss that smile off his face, but remembered their little agreement. He spent the rest of the day fending off the impulse to touch Castiel in some way. Castiel was too distracted by his work to even begin to think about behind closed doors activities with Dean.

When the photo shoot was over, they returned all the garments and accessories back to Castiel’s atelier and he was whisked off to meetings. Sam finally built up the courage to talk to Jessica, at Gabriel’s reluctance, especially since he had to go back to work, and managed to snag her number and a quick post-photo shoot lunch date. Since Dean wasn’t needed for anything else, he and Charlie left to do their own thing.

As soon as they were alone, she pounced on him for information, her curiosity from watching him and Castiel interact intriguing her to no end. She obviously sensed a change in their relationship and wanted details. Avoiding the intimate parts, he explained the gist of it and stressed how it was to be kept a secret.

The rest of the week went by without incident, though Dean and Castiel didn’t get to see as much of each other as they wanted. Though the lack of seeing each other helped quell any suspicion from Rafael – from whom they got a good lecture about being aware of their surroundings – and the press. The time during which Castiel was away they constantly phoned each other. Sam accidentally walked in the room and overheard the most disgustingly romantic things and gave him a face, though he was flipped off in return. When Castiel returned from his personal tailoring trip, Dean made sure they had a very lovely morning in bed, for he completely conked out from the jet lag that night – not even Dean’s kisses could get him to wake up long enough.

The next few weeks of Dean’s life was going to be he mayhem and everyone knew it. He had final fittings to do, his photo shoot, more press related tasks, and finally, the fashion show. At the interviews and events he mainly spent gushing about Castiel and his brand – after all, that was his job. Luckily for him they strayed away from anything too gossipy, but all the talk about the designer convinced him of his feelings for the man. Everything he said just happened to come naturally. He’d like to think that if Castiel were in his spot, it’d be the same. One activity not on his schedule was Anna confronting him.

“I know you’re dating Castiel, and I know this industry is fast,” she prefaced and also stopped him from interrupting. “But you need to take things slow.”

“ _That’s not what he said last night_ ,” Dean thought, but did not say out loud. Instead, “What do you mean?”

“I mean that Castiel’s last relationship had him falling really hard and really fast for this one guy. He broke his heart when he left. Things became too serious too quickly and the guy couldn’t take it after a year. He took the coward’s way out.”

“How long ago was this?”

“A couple of years, I think? But it left Castiel pretty shaken.”

“Okay.” He wouldn’t argue with Castiel’s closest confidante. “How about I’ll talk to him when all this is over?”

“I can deal with that.” She nodded. “Now hurry, you’re going to be late for the fitting.”

The fitting went by pretty well and there was very little that needed to be fixed. Dean could feel Castiel’s hands lingering longer than he needed to when he demonstrated how he wanted something to fit, but he appreciated the attention. Castiel knew that Dean’s schedule would be hectic and he hated how everyone’s eyes were on the both of them. They had to be overly careful not to arouse the suspicions of anyone. Though he knew his employees were loyal to him, any tiny whisper could end up on the Internet. Their days were spent acting friendly, but not overly so, and their nights were spent eating in for fear of being seen together in public. Really, all they had to do was make it past the photo shoot and the fashion show.

The day of the men’s line photo shoot was as hectic as usual, with at least twice as many people there. Castiel was there to oversee things as usual, Anna helped keep things running smoothly, Gabriel was there to tend to the clothes, someone from F Magazine’s blog was there to interview Dean, then the hair and makeup stylist, and of course, the photographer.

"Holy shit, Cas." He repeatedly whacked the back of his hand against Castiel's arm. "It's Cain."

Cain, world renown photographer and part time beekeeper, was setting up his gear when they arrived at the studio. Unlike the women’s wear shoot, Dean wouldn’t be doing the usual one pose press kit, but experimenting with the poses a bit – apparently, they were going to send out the photos to certain magazines and blogs as advertisements, so the generic pose just wouldn’t do.

"I am aware of that." Castiel watched him. "I was the one who hired him."

Dean faced his body towards the designer. "You have no idea how much of a fan I am of his work. His portraitures are insane. I have to say hi."

He watched Dean nervously walk up to the photographer. He felt almost star struck in the man's presence and was in awe of that flowing grey mane of his. As he neared him, he lost all control of his face, breaking into a very happy emotive expression.

"Hi, I just wanted to introduce myself." He held out his hand. "My name's..."

"Dean, I know." Cain took his hand and shook it. "I'm Cain."

Dean managed to stop the stupid giggle from leaving his mouth, but he still blushed at the fact that the man was still holding his hand. "I'm a big fan of your work, your portraits are ... Amazing."

"Well, at the end I hope to add yours to my collection," Cain suavely added.

Though Castiel couldn't quite hear the conversation from where he stood, he watched their body language carefully and he could feel the beginnings of jealousy boil under his skin. He was never the possessive type but there was something about seeing Dean so enraptured by Cain that made him wonder why he never looked at him that way. They spoke for a long time, Dean almost hunched over in pensive thought when Castiel thought it’d gone long enough.

Before he could stop himself, he went over to the two and spoke, "Dean, we need to get you ready."

"Right, I will see you in a few," Dean said to Cain.

As he walked over to the surprisingly large dressing room he began gushing to the designer that Cain wanted to add his face to the man's portrait collection. He would join the likes of other dignitaries and celebrities, and that wasn't something taken lightly. Castiel just nodded along, dryly saying that it was great. Apparently, he said it a little too sarcastically for it to go unnoticed.

"Okay, what's going on?" Dean looked him in the eye once he saw that they were the only two in the room.

"It's nothing." He looked away.

Dean sighed. "It's Cain, isn't it?"

"No."

"I'm sorry, I'll be more professional." Dean could see through the lie so easily.

"Thanks," he mumbled but Dean pressing their lips together muffled the tail end of it.

The designer deepened the kiss, and Dean mumbled, "As much as I would love to continue, I don't think a hard-on would look good on camera."

Castiel released. "You'd be surprised."

He squinted his eyes, not understanding what he was implying, and he could feel Dean's confusion. "Remember when Charlie said she was a fan of my old work?"

"Uh-huh..."

"I used to ..." Castiel smiled and shook his head. "Artfully photograph nude models."

"Oh?" Dean's eyebrows shot up.

“Maybe I should add you to my collection.” He pinned him to the table, and Dean gleefully jumped up, giving room for Castiel to come closer. “After all, in your interview you said you weren’t opposed to going nude.”

Dean leaned in to kiss him, but he just backed away. “But you’re right, a boner might look a little too unprofessional. Might have to save it for the bedroom.”

He shook his head as Castiel gave him a playful look. “Come on, Mr. Model. It’s time to work.”

Taking a few deep, calming breaths he changed into his first outfit, got properly fitted by a quieter than usual Gabriel, and then walked confidently over to the photo shoot area. The first pose was of the boring variety – just standing upright with a face à la Blue Steel. The next gave him a chance to actually pose. He pulled out his usual bag of poses – a hand here, popped collar there, hands in pockets, and the fake walk. It was a little harder to do some poses in the clothes that Cas designed and he was also afraid of accidentally ruining it, so he avoided any action shots.

Working with Cain, Castiel watched the two create magic in front of his eyes. There was a reason why Cain was the best. He knew what to look out for and how to display the clothes at the best they can be. He also knew how to direct the models he worked with, giving them great constructive criticisms and helpful compliments during the process. After all twenty outfits were finally photographed, Dean was so exhausted he almost forgot about Cain’s portrait offer, but luckily the photographer remembered. He was only looking for five shots, and would take just twenty, so all Dean had to do was sit on a stool. Dean could do that.

Castiel watched this intimate part of the shoot. Cain dissected Dean’s face to such a level that he knew whatever photos would come out would be exquisite. Cain took his shots, sometimes using his hands to slightly tilt the model’s face, and then was off. Neither of them would ever see the photos of the photo shoot – those went straight to marketing before anything, but Cain promised he would get the portraits up on his site within the next two days.

As soon as the photo shoot was over, they had one less thing on their plates, but it was stressful for Castiel knowing that the next day was the women’s fashion show, and in two days, the men’s fashion show. None of them knew where the time had gone but there was a flurry of excitement and nerves all around the building. Rafael and Anna were stressing about every single detail. They even argued about Dean’s involvement with the women’s fashion show. Anna insisted he be there to support Castiel, but Rafael posited that it was better that he takes things easy the next couple of days. She said that showing up would do great things for the brand, but he countered that Dean’s presence might over shadow the women’s line. Dean made the decision for them, saying that distracting Castiel with his presence wasn’t a good idea, and he could take the time to chill and prepare for the men’s show. Though Anna wasn’t happy with it, she grudgingly agreed, sending him home so that Castiel could focus.

They wouldn’t know that they’d be seeing each other that night, whispering soft things in each other’s ears, pressing soft kisses on every inch of bare skin, and soaking up the closeness of their bodies. There was nothing quite like the present.

The next morning, Dean wished a slightly frazzled Castiel a good show and stayed in his apartment while browsing the Internet for any news of the fashion show. Thinking about the one he’d be in, he wondered what he would do when the contract was over. He assumed the novelty of being a spokes-model would wear off quickly and it would be back to job-hunting, though he couldn’t see the vitality in it. He thought about his conversation with Sam about going back to school. Perhaps he could do both. He switched over to looking for classes, but in the middle of his search he received a phone call from Meg.

“Where are you right now?” she asked hurriedly.

Dean panicked. “Home. Why?”

"Your photograph by Cain is blowing up everywhere," she said excitedly. "How did you even get photographed by the man who is so important he doesn't even have a last name?"

“What do you mean? I don’t think the press kit has even gone out yet.”

“Not the press kit – the portrait!” she yelled.

"Well, he shot the photos for the line." He put the phone on speaker as he put Cain's name in the search bar, wanting to see the photo himself. "Guess he liked my face enough to add to his collection."

"Do you know what this means?"

"No." He moved his cursor over to the portraits tab and clicked on it – on that page were multiple thumbnails of people Cain has shot over the years and clicking each one opened to a set of photos.

"Dean, I've already got calls. Karl wants you to headline the next season. Valentino is coming out of fucking retirement to design something for you to model. I don't know what you did to get on Cain’s good side, but you're now the most sought after model. We knew you’d be a big deal with Cas’ job, but this is just the cherry on top. After Castiel's contract ends you have your pick at jobs. Wait, shit."

The change in tone from excitement to terror alarmed him. "Meg? What's wrong?"

"Fuck. Bernard Arnault is calling. Stay on the line but don't say a word," she warned before an audible click was heard. "Bonjour Monsieur Arnault. Oui, Dean est un modèle superbe. Ses informations? Oui, je peux vous envoyer. Très bien. Merci beaucoup monsieur. Bonsoir."

"I didn't know you knew French," He finally spoke. "What did he ask?"

"He wants your information. I don't know what he's going to do about it, but if I were the CEO of one of the most profitable luxury goods company in the world, I'd be pressuring the designers of said luxury goods to put your face somewhere on their brands. We're talking 30 brands here, Dean."

He didn't know what to say, this was a lot to take in.

“Anyways, gotta go,” she sighed. “I don’t know whether or not to thank you for the amount of business you’re giving me.”

“You’re welcome.” He chuckled. “Update me later, hey?”

“Sure thing, sweet cheeks.”

When she hung up, he began to take some deep breaths to calm his nerves. He couldn’t fathom that the portraits had such an effect. Wondering what could possibly move so many people to offer him jobs, he curiously clicked on his thumbnail. The first shot was of his face taken directly from the front. Like all the portraits Cain added a small blurb to why he chose the people he took photos of.

_“The first time I met Dean Winchester was at a shooting for a clothing brand. He was a very impressionable young man – cheery, eager to work, and took his job seriously, like most models. I asked him for a portrait and he didn’t understand why. He told me he didn’t look very interesting. I told him, a little too bluntly perhaps, that he was wrong, that his features were symmetrical. He didn’t understand how that made him interesting, but then I explained. His features adhered to Da Vinci’s own idea of physical perfection._

_“It wasn’t until then that I realized he never believed that he was perfect or beautiful. He was there to do his job – model clothes, maybe have fun meeting people – he didn’t care about Da Vinci. He might be the first model I’ve met who was more interested in seeing how the clothes translated on film than how he looked on camera. It was refreshing to see a model who wasn’t vain. It would be a shame for him to stop modelling, for he cared more about the work a designer puts in than how his perfect face looked.”_

His eyebrows shot up – _this_ was the reason why Meg was getting tons of calls? _This_ was the reason why Bernard fucking Arnault personally called her? He scrolled down the rest and saw more pictures of his face at various angles lit in multiple ways. He had to admit, he did look pretty cool, and the one of him looking down and laughing sparked a memory of Castiel’s casting. The one thing about Cain that he liked was that he never photoshopped any of the photos. Everything was natural – the lines around his eyes, the freckles, the tiny little scar on his chin – was all there. He still couldn’t see his face as perfect but he supposed if someone like Cain could see it, then maybe that was a good thing.

He needed to talk to someone about this – the job offers, the fact that one of the most important photographers thought he was beautiful – and the person he wanted to call was busy prepping for a fashion show. Castiel’s mindset was completely on the show, making sure everything was perfect. Whatever would happen would set the tone for the men’s show.

From Castiel’s apartment, Dean watched the live stream. The lights were pretty dim until the music came on. He had to shake his head once he heard the music. It was a bold choice going with Carmina Burana, but there the models were, strutting their stuff to classical music in a dead language. He supposed it suited well with the clothing’s theme – all sharp edges, vibrant and deep colours, and designs that mixed the old with the new.

He watched as each model strutted down the runway. God, the garments were incredible. In just a day he’d be in the same position. In that moment, Castiel must have been insanely proud of his and his team’s work. It wasn’t long before the models walked down the runway one last time and Castiel shyly waved to the crowd. One show down, one more to go.


	13. Chapter 13

Rafael sent over a car to pick Dean up. He laughed at the thought of Rafael thinking that somewhere in the subway trip getting there he would have hurt himself, effectively putting an end to him on the runway, but he accepted the ride and hummed whatever was on the radio to himself.

He’d gotten there early enough that even Castiel wasn’t there, but some other models were. In the corner of the fitting/makeup/hair room were Michael and Lucifer, whispering to each other about something. Uriel was sitting by himself listening to music. A little to his left he spotted Benny.

“Hey, man!” he cheerfully greeted his fellow model. “How’ve you been?”

Benny lit up. “Oh, man, you made it brother. Wonderin’ when you were gonna show your successful ass. I still can’t believe it.”

“You and me both,” he chuckled. “When we going?”

Benny looked behind him at the clock. “Half an hour till first run. Now, level with me, what do the clothes look like?”

He nervously chuckled. “Guess you’ll have to see.”

The director of the show, Becky, rushed in hustling each model to hair and makeup. Looking at the table, Dean saw a variety of colours and wondered what Cas had in mind. Closing his eyes the makeup artist got to work and he didn’t open them until she was finished. Opening them, he forced himself not to touch her work. Bright green stripes with pointed tips flashed across his cheekbones with a dark stripe on top. A lighter green eye shadow on his lids, paired with darkened brows, showed off his eyes. He thought that the most interesting part of his look, though, wasn’t on his face but his neck. The makeup artist had painted on tiny bluish-purple scales all around. Around the room the other male models had variations of this, with different colour paints on their faces. He was secretly jealous of the gold diagonal stripe running across Uriel’s face – it looked like a claw mark and it was badass.

In their normal clothes, the models were ushered to the catwalk where they were shown where they were walking and how long the runway was. Becky cued for the music over her radio and the music played as they each went down the runway, with Dean going last.

The runway itself wasn’t too long and there weren’t any stairs he had to go up or down. It was oddly wide but he didn’t pay much mind to that, adjusting his walk when another model walked past him. The warehouse they were in was filled with white seats that each held a gift bag. He saw a particular sign on one seat that said “Naomi,” and he gulped knowing she would be watching him. Going backstage, he had to take some pictures for social media – just another part of his contract he had to uphold – and took some selfies with the other models. They instantly hit over a thousand likes on CSTL’s Instagram and Facebook account.

A little while later, Castiel arrived with his entourage in tow – Ellen, Gabriel, Kevin, and Jo amongst others – and the garments just behind on almost eight racks. It became total chaos of movement once they arrived and Dean tried to get to him to no avail. Castiel was in “show” mode. He needed to get each model in their prospective outfits so that they could do some last minute fitting before the show. When Dean finally had his “complete” outfit on, he understood why the runway was so wide. Each model was adorned with massive feathers respective to the bird that the design was influenced from. For his outfit he had a giant tail of peacock feathers stitched together to create a long train.

Castiel look around at the models getting ready. He was understandably nervous about his first men’s line and could hear the sound of cameras and people arriving. Though Anna tried to calm him down that morning he could also feel her anxious energy. Everybody was seemingly on edge – except for the models. Feeling like he couldn’t breathe, he rushed out of the area, catching the attention of the one man who watched him the entire time.

“Hey, Cas.” They were on the roof of the warehouse, and Dean was careful not to wreck his outfit – they had luckily taken off his tail. “Are you okay?”

This was the first time in a while that they were alone together and able to speak without anyone hearing. They both knew this show was a make or break moment with Castiel’s reputation hanging on by a thread.

He was taking deep breaths, but his eyes were still showing fear and panic. “Yes? No? I don’t know.”

“Come here.” Dean stepped in his personal space and opened his arms up for him to walk into. “You’re worrying about nothing. Everyone’s gonna love it.”

He took in a deep breath, calming with the feeling of Dean so near. He could feel the pressure getting to him but standing with him on the rooftop abated it just a little. After all, they were in it together.

Anna opened the door and stepped onto the rooftop, making them release their embrace. “We have to start the show soon. Have you seen the amount of photographers out there?”

“Yeah,” Castiel breathed out.

“It’s not usually like that?” Dean wondered.

“No.” She shook her head excitedly. “It’s crazy today. So after the show all the guests are going to come and say their congratulations. You know, all the kiss-kiss, then you both go take a quick break, and then we do interviews.”

Castiel took a shaky breath and looked away; the amount of stress making his head pound, but Dean just took his hand and squeezed tight. “You can do this. We can do this.”

They made their way back down to even more hustle and bustle.

“Castiel, good.” Gabriel came up holding two lint rollers. “We’re just cleaning the guys up. Kevin’s doing last checks. You ready?”

Dean placed a reassuring hand on his back. “Yeah.”

Becky quickly put Dean in the line, and Kevin and Jo hooked up his feathers. The makeup artists went down the line putting any finishing touches on their hair or makeup making sure each of their painted lines were crisp and vibrant. Castiel and Gabriel rushed to clean off any dust or string off of the clothes. Castiel gave the thumbs up to Becky and she radioed for a message to be relayed for everyone to take their seats. With a five minute warning, the makeup artists backed off and allowed more room for the models.

“Okay, Michael? Go.” Becky signalled as she pressed her timer. “And music.”

“Okay, Lucifer, and … go.” She signalled for the next model to start walking.

Castiel stood there at the front of the line watching the monitors. There was a video camera at the end of the runway streaming so he could see everything. He didn’t even notice the photographers taking candid pictures of his models behind him (as they do).

“Benny, go.” Becky motioned with her hand as Michael made his way back.

Each model went and came back until it was Dean’s turn to close the show. Taking a deep breath he looked at Castiel, his bright blue eyes starting to fill with tears.

“Thanks, Cas.” Dean tenderly caressed his face in his hand and gently touched their foreheads together, not caring who saw.

“Dean, go!” Becky motioned hysterically.

He walked onto the runway and flashing lights were the first things he saw. Putting a serious face on, he walked down that runway being sure not to snag any of the feathers. He focused on one thing and one thing only: don’t fall. At the end of the runway he posed and turned around, lightly grasping onto one side of the tail so they didn’t snap when he turned. With the hard part being over he walked back. Back behind the curtain all the models were back in the line ready to showcase the designs one last time. As soon as he was there, Becky told them to go. Gabriel immediately hugged his brother before anything else, giving Castiel a slight jolt of confidence.

“Ready?”

“Yeah.” Castiel nervously chuckled.

He was soon by Dean’s side and waited until the last model came out before they made their last appearance on the runway.

“Hey.” He looked at Cas mischievously. “Tell me if this is okay or not.”

“And go.” Becky signalled to the two and he took Castiel’s hand in his.

They walked out together hand-in-hand and the cameras went nuts. Castiel made his wave and then they were back behind the scenes again. Most of the models had already taken off their garments and were headed out. Dean was the only model that had to stay. Like Anna said, people were going to congratulate them for a successful show and to interview them. What came next was surprising to both of them.

“Squirrel, I have to say, you weren’t … bad.” Crowley somehow made his way backstage. “And Castiel, it was an … interesting line.”

He then turned on his heels and left leaving the both of them scratching their heads. They were surprised that he even showed up, much less paid vague passive-aggressive compliments. The rest of the evening went by in a blur and through no fault of their own they got separated. Sam and Charlie were apparently at the show and gave Dean giant bear hugs. At the interviews, Castiel gushed about Dean and Dean gushed about Castiel. No one seemed to have caught on to the fact that their hand holding was more an announcement then a gesture of solidarity between model and designer, but perhaps the privacy was welcome.

It was late at night when a car arrived to send Dean home. Castiel had to return to his atelier to celebrate a successful collection with his team, though he did insist for him to be there since he was such a crucial element in the brand’s first menswear line. Dean countered that he should celebrate with the people that made the clothes, and he would have something a little more special planned later.

What he didn’t expect to see was Meg in the car with a seemingly important package sitting on her lap.

“We need to talk,” she spoke once he buckled up.

He teased. “Are we breaking up?”

“We should discuss what will happen once the contract is over.” She pulled out some forms. “I have various brands who want you to be their spokes-model.”

“So you want me to pick one now?” He looked at her, surprised.

“Yes. Here are my top picks for you.” She took out a pen. “Usually I’d give you time to think it over, but I’ve looked over every single word and there is no wrong choice. We need to be ahead of the game, Dean, before the trend of having a spokes-model wears out.”

“What trend? There’s a trend?”

“Well, ever since Castiel chose you, the fashion industry has been eagerly waiting to see how it would turn out. With the success of the show and your portrait with Cain, brands are snapping up male models hoping to get their brand in the spotlight.”

“It’s been three hours, Meg.” He looked at her. “Three hours is not enough time for people to give me job offers.”

“You underestimate how fast this industry is.”

He sighed and looked out the window – he would love to travel overseas to do work, it would be great exposure and it could lead to so many great things – but it meant having to leave Castiel. He knew he had to talk to him about this first.

“I just don’t understand.” He shook his head. “I was the face of the brand for one season. It’s not like there was anything different in my job. I wasn’t on any billboards, I didn’t do any commercials. I just did interviews and went to events.”

“You know how the industry is. Everyone wants to one-up each other, and they do that with you.”

He looked down at the papers that she shoved in his hands. He trusted her enough to know that whatever she chose was going to be good for his career – money was good, exposure fantastic, etc. – but at what cost?

“Can I look it over and get back to you in a couple of days?”

They arrived at his apartment. “A couple. No more. This isn’t something you can sit on for a week.”

“Got it, boss.” He took the papers with him and thanked the driver before entering his apartment and staring at the contracts.

Pouring over each one, most of them were season-long contracts all done overseas from cities like London, Paris, and Milan. They were even flexible enough to offer him the choice of which season he wanted to be a part of, which meant he could essentially jump around from brand to brand. A feeling in the pit of his stomach told him he was way too old for this and that he didn’t deserve this kind of recognition. It was only weeks ago he was considering going back to school. And then there’s Castiel. He shook his head and called him, leaving a voicemail.

“Hey, Cas? Let me know when you’re free. I need to talk to you about something.”

 

 

 

Castiel returned to his apartment late that night, a little more than tipsy. He told Dean he was welcome to wait for him there. He found him seated at the table poring over something.

“Hey.” He wrapped his arms around Dean’s neck and shoulders, giving him a kiss from behind. “What’s this?”

He cleared his throat and gathered the papers neatly. “It’s what I wanted to talk to you about, actually.”

The designer sat down beside the model, facing him, and then Dean spoke again. “They’re all modelling contracts. Turns out, modelling for you has given me opportunities that I would never have been offered in the first place. I have three that I am considering but I wanted to talk to you first.”

He looked at him calmly but could feel nervousness rising up. They both knew the terms of the contract and that it stated he would only model for one season, but Castiel couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

“They’re all overseas, and they require me working and living in Europe for at least six months. The money is great, the publicity is awesome, and the experience is incredible. What do you think?”

“This is … fast.” He swallowed the lump in his throat and let out a breath. “I think that it’s a great opportunity and you should totally go.”

 _“But I don’t want to,”_ Dean thought, but said instead, “Are you sure?”

“ _No, I want you to stay,”_ Castiel thought, but said instead, “You can’t pass up this chance.”

“Okay.” He nodded slowly.

“Okay.” The designer looked at the contracts. “May I?”

“Sure.” He handed the papers over and Castiel scanned them quickly.

“ _But what about us?”_ The thought repeated itself over and over in Dean’s mind, but he couldn’t force himself to say it.

“You have to go with Karl.” He handed the papers back to him. “He’s saner than the other two.”

He didn’t say a word. They both knew what was coming. Dean stood up and walked towards the door. “It’s late. If I’m going with Karl, then I have to start packing. I’ll be on a plane tomorrow afternoon.”

He walked the model to his door, but was still unable to say anything to him - how could he possibly tell him to stay when there were so many things out there for the man to experience? How could he possibly be so selfish to take that away from him?

“If you never hired me and I didn’t spend all that time with you, and we just randomly met in that cafe,” Dean began suddenly. “Do you think we would have ended up together?”

Castiel needed it to hurt less, so he lied. “No.”

“Okay, I guess this is it, then.” Dean shakily put out his hand. “It was, um, nice working with you.”

He shook the model’s hand, unable to say anymore. This was it. Their relationship was done.

“I wish you the best of luck in all your endeavours.” It was a cop out to say that when he really wanted to say, “ _I’ll miss you. Don’t go.”_

The door closed, separating the two. With heavy footsteps and a bunch of papers that felt like they weighed a ton, Dean walked towards the elevator. He secretly wished that Castiel would open the door, rushing through and stopping him to profess his love like some cheesy romantic comedy movie, but it wouldn’t happen even as he deliberately held the elevator door open.

Castiel sat on the floor with his back against the door and his head in his hands, realizing he just let another man he felt immense feelings for walk out the door.


	14. Chapter 14

**_A year and a half later …_ **

Dean was a hit overseas. No one cared about his age or that he was American. They saw him as the man with the perfect face, and a second session with Cain reinforced this idea. He started off modeling at Chanel and his season with Karl Lagerfeld opened up even more doors. It helped that his face was everywhere - billboards, magazine ads, commercials. The brand saw a boost in their sales for menswear thanks to him. He couldn’t quite grasp the French language as well as Meg, but charmed his way in the media and with interviewers. He was grateful his next few jobs sent him to London.

He worked with Stella McCartney when she began developing her first menswear line and he actually became a little more of a consultant than a model. She grilled him on fit and on what men liked and didn’t like, and in return she introduced him to her father, Paul. Dean was starstruck for weeks. He eventually moved onto Gareth Pugh, but found the eccentricity of the designer’s clothes hitting too close to home and reminded him too much of Castiel. It also reminded him that he was lonely, even when he was constantly surrounded by people. He tried dating, but it never seemed to work out.

On his way to a meeting with Rowena, which did not end well, he passed by a magazine stand and saw a certain issue of F Magazine being sold. Buying a copy he flipped the magazine open and saw the spread. It was the same picture he saw on Castiel’s mantle of him carrying Anna bridal style. Gazing at it he was reminded of his time spent with him and the feeling of being homesick filled him to the brim. He missed his home and his friends and more often than not he thought about the blue-eyed designer that made all of this possible. One particular morning, his phone began to ring.

“You better be dying for calling me at this hour, Sam,” he grumbled into his phone.

It was three in the morning in Dean’s time when he answered the call. It wasn’t Sam on the other end, though, but rather Gabriel.

“Hey, buddy, how are you? How are things?” Gabriel began.

“ _Gabriel, give me my phone!”_ He could hear Sam yelling on the other side.

He yawned loudly. “What’s going on? Where’s Sam?”

“I just have one question for you!” It sounded like Gabriel was running. “Why’d you break it off with Cas?”

He blinked a couple of times but was unable to come up with anything but, “What the hell? Why did you call me to ask that? Just because you’re friends with my brother doesn’t mean you can just call me any time you want.”

“Answer the question, pretty boy.” He heard the sound of a door closing. “Or I’ll send you a picture of myself you really don’t want to see.”

“What the fuck?!” He was starting to get pissed off. “Fine! Then you give back the phone to Sam.”

“Deal’s a deal, now spill.”

He sighed. Sitting up in bed, he began to relate his side, his tired brain unable to filter out anything. “I showed him the contracts and he told me to go. He insisted that I take every opportunity.”

“And you didn’t think about his feelings?”

“Of course I did,” he tiredly defended himself. “I wanted to stay for him. God, I missed him every single day from the moment I landed in Paris. He never told me to stay. I couldn’t just force myself into his life unless he wanted me as well. I don’t know, man, maybe Anna was right, maybe things were just going too fast and we both couldn’t handle it. Maybe he didn’t like me as much as he said he did.”

Hearing himself say it out loud, he realized just how much he missed the designer and how good things were. Why didn’t he stay?

“I gotta go, Gabe. Say hi to my brother for me.”

He hung up and tossed his phone on his bedside table. He fell asleep with a hollow feeling in his chest and the image of a man with blue eyes in his dreams. Across the Atlantic, Castiel’s heart plummeted listening to Dean’s confession.

**_A few hours earlier …_ **

“ _He’s a visionary and at the top of the game. His clothes have changed the way the world thinks about couture. Who wouldn’t want to be the spokes-model for him?”_ Dean’s voice echoed in the video, but it was Gabriel who brought Castiel back to reality.

“Really? Watching him again?” Gabriel entered his office. “Just admit it, you miss him.”

He paused the video but kept the tab open, “What does it matter?”

“Call him.” Gabriel looked at his sad brother very seriously.

“It’s been years. He hasn’t tried to contact me in that time. Pretty loud message.” He shrugged. “He’s gone. He’s just like the rest. They leave and never come back,” Castiel expressed unemotionally. “And I tried to make it work.”

He cringed at himself speaking that god-awful phrase.

“No, you didn’t.” Gabriel corrected his brother. “You did nothing.”

“What are you talking about?” He raised his voice.

“You pushed him away, brother.” Speaking softly, he walked closer to the table. “You tell me your story, Sam tells me Dean’s story. It doesn’t match, and for once, I’m leaning in favour of Dean.”

He just glared at Gabriel. 

“You never saw the way he looked at you. You were so busy getting everything ready for the shows and the press that you never stopped once to look at him.”

“I looked at him.” He crossed his arms indignantly.

“Cas, you fell hard, and you fell fast …”

Castiel interrupted Gabriel. “You sound like Anna.”

“But you were too blind to see that he wanted to stay,” he huffed.

“He had jobs! Do you know how selfish it is for me to ask him to stay? How can I tell him not to go to Europe?” He was exasperated.

His brother took in a deep breath and sympathetically looked at him. “Cas, all I’m saying is that if you asked him to stay, he would have said yes in a heartbeat. Now, are you going to join Sam and I for drinks or not?”

“No, I need to work on the line.” He gestured to the various drawings he had on his table. “You go.”

He left the office leaving Castiel staring at his drawings for his upcoming menswear line. He contemplated stopping after his first but the pressure from the industry, and the increase in sales and bespoke creations forced him to continue. The only thing he could put a stop to was hiring a spokes-model. After Dean, he couldn’t put himself up to having another model become so personally acquainted with him and then leave. Dean’s departure hurt more than he cared to admit, and deep down he regretted never asking him to stay.

Castiel was still in his office when he heard a ruckus outside of his office doors. He knew it wasn’t thieves by the sound of Sam yelling at his brother. They must have finished hanging out and came to check up on him. Suddenly, Gabriel rushed through the doors and closed them, locking out Sam.

“Hey! Open this door!” Sam knocked on the glass doors but Gabriel just pulled down the roman blinds while he held the phone to his ear.

“Or I’ll send you a picture of myself you really don’t want to see,” He spoke to whomever was on the other end..

“What …” Castiel shook his head and resumed his research on his line.

“Deal’s a deal, now spill.” Gabriel walked up closer to him and pressed the speakerphone button.

He nearly gasped when he heard Dean’s tired voice. “I showed him the contracts and he told me to go. He insisted that I take every opportunity.”

“And you didn’t think about his feelings?”

“Of course I did. I wanted to stay for him. God, I missed him every single day from the moment I landed in Paris. He never told me to stay. I couldn’t just force myself into his life unless he wanted me as well. I don’t know, man, maybe Anna was right, maybe things were just going too fast and we both couldn’t handle it. Maybe he didn’t like me as much as he said he did,” there was a pause. “I gotta go, Gabe. Say hi to my brother for me.”

The phone call ended and Castiel looked at his brother in shock at what he heard.

“I screwed up,” were the only words that came out of his mouth.

“See? Told you so,” he handed the phone to Castiel. “Call him.”

He looked at Sam’s phone but was unable to take it, “I can’t. I … need to think.”

“About what?” He gestured wildly at his brother. “You clearly have feelings for him. You keep watching those dumb interviews he did when he was your spokes-model. Just phone, Cassie.”

“Not yet,” he chewed at his lip. “I’m not … ready, yet.”

“Fine,” he pocketed the phone and went back to Sam, who was trying to get a peek in the between the gaps of the door. “You know where to find me.”

When he was left alone in his office, the multitude of drawings staring at him, he realized just how incredibly lonely he felt. He sighed. Phoning Dean, telling him he missed him, wasn’t going to do any good. Things were different. He had a menswear line to work on and life had to move on with or without Dean.

 

 

 

Anna, Balthazar, and Castiel took their seats at the table. They were all highly caffeinated for a long day of casting for the menswear line. They were looking for around 40 models this time around which meant a very, very, long day. They had their usuals come in - Uriel, Michael, Lucifer, and Benny - and some new faces hoping to make their beginnings in the modelling world with CSTL, but Castiel did what he always did - he sketched. He gave Anna and Balthazar authority over the casting, like usual, until Anna suddenly had to leave for an hour. She didn’t give any particular reason for leaving but returned an hour later trying to hide the look of delight on her face.

“Sorry about that. Where were we?” She turned towards Balthazar.

“We have two more models to see,” he handed the clipboard over to her.

“Oh, good,” she looked at it and handed it back. “You know, I’m glad we opened up the casting internationally. I’m enjoying the variety of models. They’re not plain looking at all.”

Castiel hummed along not completely listening as he drew his croquis with green eyes.

“Okay,” Balthazar responded. “Shall we continue?”

“Send in the next one,” she called to the assistant.

The last two models they saw were twins, eccentric, and perfect for the line. Castiel sighed when they came in at the same time as it meant a shorter interview period. When Balthazar went over to take their headshots, he watched with disinterested eyes as the twins awkwardly posed around each other. He went back to his seat and resumed finishing his drawing. Sometime later, Anna and Balthazar returned to their seats.

“That’s it?” Balthazar asked. “Can I start printing?”

“Nope, we have one more,” Anna motioned for the assistant to bring in their very last model.

“I thought that was it?” Balthazar groaned. “Did we consider the twins as one?”

Castiel drowned out their conversation as he tried his best to get the hands drawn correctly. He heard the sound of another model walk in, but he didn’t bother to look up. He briefly saw the black portfolio get passed to Anna when she requested it. Balthazar snickered when he saw the photos. Castiel kept his head down and his pencil to the paper.

“Latest work?” Anna asked, her voice surprisingly steady.

The unmistakable rumble of Dean’s voice finally made Castiel look up and he lost his grip on the pencil, “Chanel, Stella McCartney, Gareth Pugh … but my favourite so far has been CSTL NVK.”

“Oh?” She couldn’t hide her smile any longer. “Any particular reason?”

“I don’t know, might have been the clothes, might have been the fun events, might have been because the designer called me plain and boring,” Dean looked Castiel in the eyes and smiled. “Might have been because I fell in love.”

Castiel’s mouth gaped open and a strangled breath escaped.

“I was scared to come back. Wasn’t sure if he wanted to see me after not talking for so long. We weren’t even exclusive, but what we had was … I screwed up by leaving. I should have insisted on staying. I should have told him that the contracts didn’t matter. I should have told him that I liked him too much to leave. So I thought I’d come back and actually do something about it. I hope that’s alright.”

The room was completely silent for a few moments as everyone pondered his words.

Anna was the first to speak, though she grabbed Balthazar’s arm and dragged him away, “Hey Balth, let’s go over some of the headshots.”

Castiel put his drawings down and walked around the table, “You’re here.”

“I am. I’m here to stay for as long as you want me,” he sighed. “And if you don’t, I’ll leave. I know this is out of the blue…”

They were inches away from each other and Castiel impulsively fixed Dean’s collar, shutting him up. He knew the risks of dating an internationally renowned model, but he wasn’t going to play it safe – not this time.

“I’m glad you came back,” he spoke in a low voice, his expression softening as he placed his hands on Dean’s chest. “So how could I say no?”

“Cas, it might be hard, but we’ll …,” he took Castiel’s hands in his own.

“Don’t,” he warned, a laugh starting to escape from his mouth.

“Make. It. Work,” Dean smiled that brilliant smile – the one that first brought Castiel to his knees, the one that he found joy in, the one that convinced him he was more than just a plain, boring model – before holding him tight and pressing their lips together.


End file.
